Home of Carlisle councillor targeted by vandals

By Jonny Irving

Last updated at 11:49, Tuesday, 07 January 2014

The home of a councillor was callously targeted by vandals who used an unknown chemical to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage.

William and Jacquelyne Geddes in their garden

The garden, in Harker, of Jacquelyne Geddes, the city councillor for Stanwix Urban, was broken into overnight between New Years Eve and New Years Day and vandalised while she and husband William were out.

The vandals covered garden furniture and her patios with a substance thought to be something like creosote, which is similar to tar.

It was a noxious substance which had been used. It smelled something like engine oil and was very greasy. It was poured over all the patios and over some garden furniture, she said.

This is an area with a very low risk for crime, so I think we were targeted. It is not a nice thing to happen especially when your husband is a 69-year-old vulnerable pensioner.

She added that the patios were permanently stained and without identifying the substance it could not be cleaned properly, meaning that they might need to be replaced completely.

Mrs Geddes has recently had her patio replaced costing over 1,000 and her garden furniture was also damaged in the attack. She believes that the cost of the vandalism could be more than 5,000.

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Home of Carlisle councillor targeted by vandals