Wick toilet vandals caught on CCTV - ‘Nothing’s being done about those kids and it’s got to be stopped’

Faces of the perpetrators who vandalised the public toilets at Whitechapel Road in Wick have been recorded thanks to CCTV cameras.

This was announced at last week’s meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council (RBWCC) after the refurbished toilets were closed for a period after being vandalised just before Christmas last year.

Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner had been instrumental in the £400k refurbishment of the Whitechapel toilets which reopened last summer and said: “If anyone thinks the CCTV cameras around that building are not likely to tell a story you’d be very much mistaken.”

RBWCC members wondered if a conviction was pending but Cllr Bremner said he “could not comment” further on that aspect. “I think what’s important for me, and for us around the table, is that we’ve been supporting this project for a long time and taken time to invest in those CCTV cameras.”

He added: “My points are that the cameras work and that as long as we can report that the suspects were caught and we can say that, then it gets the information out there that people can’t do this and get away with it. The CCTV cameras are working and it’s important to get that information out there.”

Since it is a “live investigation”, Cllr Bremner said that he was limited in what he could say about the crime. The refurbished public toilets, which had only been open for six months after repeated acts of vandalism had closed the facility in December 2019, were closed again after being intentionally damaged on December 23.

The police issued a statement after the latest incident which reads: “Around 7.50am on Monday, 23 December, 2024, officers received a report of damage at public toilets on Whitechapel Road, Wick. Enquiries are ongoing.”

Doors and door frames to the public showers and the automatic flush sensors were damaged and the showers had to be switched off after exposed wiring was discovered.

Automatic flush sensors were also out of action and the decision was taken, on a health and safety basis, to close the building to the public until the damage was repaired. Since that initial report, repairs have been made and the toilets are now open again.

RBWCC member Wendy Campbell said: “In Shetland, they are prosecuting 12 and 13-year-olds for vandalism so why can’t we do it in Caithness? Look at all the damage they’ve been doing over the years in Wick itself and nothing’s being done about those kids and it’s got to be stopped.”

Cllr Bremner replied: “There’s nothing saying we can’t do it in Caithness but you’ve got to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it’s them. I’m suggesting to you that there is some evidence and we’ll just have to wait and see.”

RBWCC member Norma Craven said there could be a good reason that the police are not seeking to prosecute the perpetrators and “you have to put your trust in that”.

“From the CCTV images there will be more than police involved in this,” replied Cllr Bremner.

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