Residents’ fears as stone-throwing teens target homes and vehicles in Sunderland

The light summer evenings have seen groups of teenagers congregating in Barnes Park, close to the Durham Road entrance and throwing objects including stones and even boiled sweets at passing vehicles.

Two car windscreens have been smashed and at least one house window broken and now local people fear it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.

"For about a month there have been instances of youths in the park throwing objects including rocks at passing vehicles and buses,” said one woman, who did not wish to be named.

“Recently it has been every day between about five and seven in the evening.

"This is the busiest road in Sunderland and they are throwing stones at buses, cars and people. This is a main road and my fear is that somebody is going to get hurt.”

She said residents had passed on video evidence to police and believed the youngsters were all pupils from the same school.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson confirmed officers had been called to Durham Road after a report of vandalism: “Shortly before 8.40pm on Tuesday, June 21, police received a report of criminal damage on Humbledon Park in Sunderland.

“It was reported that a suspect had thrown rocks at a parked car on the street sometime between 6pm and 7pm, causing damage to the windscreen before leaving the scene.

“Enquiries are ongoing to locate those involved and anyone with information or who saw what happened should contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ part of our website or by calling 101 quoting crime reference 073962A/22.”

She urged anyone who was having problems with anti-social behaviour to report it to police: “As a force, we are committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and recognise the behaviour of a minority can have an adverse impact on the communities we serve.

“We will continue to work hand-in-hand with the public and partners to tackle this issue and would always encourage anybody who is affected by anti-social behaviour to report it to us.”