Thugs slammed for 'mindless vandalism' at Fratton Community Centre

Equipment, a boombox and a speaker were all damaged in a spree at Fratton Community Centre.

Manager Julie Crook said it isn’t the first time the centre has been targeted.

Ms Crook told The News: ‘It is really disheartening for everyone to see what has happened. It is not about how much it will cost to replace it but it is the inconvenience and also how it makes everyone here feel.

‘In the last few weeks we have had windows smashed and one of our staff was spat in the face by a young person.

‘We are proud of the work we do for our community and we won’t stop but this mindless vandalism just ruins it for everyone. We know we aren’t a state-of-the-art centre but we work hard and we had only just extended that part of the gym so we could help more young people.’

Police were called about the incident, which was believed to have happened on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

A spokesman said: ‘We have received a report of entry being forced to a store room at Fratton Community Centre sometime between 9.30pm on March 9 and 10am on March 10. Nothing has been reported as stolen, but some items have been reported as damaged. Anyone with information can call 101, quoting 44200090475.’

A post on the centre’s Facebook page read: ‘We were devastated to come in this morning to find our brand new gym area completely trashed and vandalised.

‘We created this area for the people of the Community. Myran (our gym trainer) done an amazing job completely renovating this area, making all users extremely happy with their training space.

‘It is such a shame that this is the outcome of mindless vandalism. All equipment has been thrown all over the place, our boombox has been damaged, our speaker has been smashed to pieces and the whole area has just been tipped upside down.

We wanted to share this so people are aware (especially those living around the centre).’