Graveyard gang told to clean up graffiti

FIVE youngsters are being made to clean up Hunslet Cemetery after they were found damaging gravestones.

West Yorkshire Police’s Police Community Support Officers who were patrolling the area found the group hanging around inside the cemetery on Tuesday evening.

Afterwards, the officers found graffiti scrawled on a number of the headstones.

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Officers took photographs of the damage using their smartphones, and found the youths on Wednesday afternoon. All admitted being responsible for the damage.

However, rather than prosecute the three boys and two girls, who are aged between 12 and 16, they have now been put to work cleaning up the grounds of the cemetery.

In addition to scrubbing the graffiti from the graves, the young people will also pick up litter and will carry out grounds maintenance to improve the landscape for all who visit the cemetery as part of a “Community Resolution”.

The additional patrols in and around the cemetery were launched following a spate of thefts and damages last year.

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Inspector Yvette Hammill, who leads the Rothwell Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We take any incidents in and around the cemetery extremely seriously because we understand just how upsetting they are for many members of our local community.

“Damaging gravestones is a mindless act, but on this occasion those involved are young people who haven’t previously come to our attention.

“Arresting them and prosecuting them could have a major impact on their future prospects and careers, and by going down this route we’re giving them a chance to learn their lesson.

“I’d like to think a day of hard graft will make them learn from their mistakes, because if they don’t and they are caught committing further offences they can expect to be arrested and prosecuted.”

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