Victim of Gosport BB gun rampage says ‘I’m thinking of moving away’

HGV driver Farzin Harighi came out of his house on Tuesday afternoon to see a pellet had been fired at the back of his car, smashing the back windscreen.

As reported, Hampshire police confirmed the crime is being investigated along with other instances of people and houses being shot at by a gang of youths with BB guns.

Mr Harighi, 40, said he was shocked to see his car Hartington Road in Gosport had been targeted, and was surprised at the size of the pellet left behind. It happened between 2.15pm on March 12 and 6.15am the next day.

He said: ‘I came outside to see my back window completely shattered – the pellet had bounced back into the road.

‘I was shocked when I saw that it was like a ball bearing; it’s much bigger than I thought one would be.’

The damage meant that Mr Harighi had to dig into his wallet to replace the windscreen, and take a day off work while it was sorted.

But he says that his frustration is dwarfed by the threat these attacks pose to residents.

‘My biggest concern is what something that big could do to a person. If it hit them it would do an awful lot of damage,’ he said.

‘I heard a lot about the BB gun shootings on social media but had no idea that I could end up being targeted.

‘My worry is what will happen if they are allowed to keep on doing this sort of thing.’

Mr Harighi is considering moving away from the Brockhurst area for his own safety.

He said: ‘When I bought the property six years ago I thought it would be quite quiet around here, but I guess that is no longer the case.

‘I don’t feel safe leaving my car outside and now I’m thinking of selling up and moving away.

‘If nobody is going to stop them then it’s going to carry on.’

Gosport police inspector Richard Thompson said: ‘The Neighbourhood Policing Team will be taking this report of criminal damage into account as part of our enquiries into a wider series of incidents that we believe are related to the use of a BB gun in public places.

‘We will be continuing to carry out regular patrols in the areas identified in these reports. We will also be speaking to local schools and teenagers as part of our enquiries.’

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting 44190087718.