Petty Crime in Coniston, NSW

Last week I came out of my friend's flat in Coniston to see that some eejit (for want of an expressive word that isn't really a swear word!) had graffitied his/her tag on the bonnet of my car. It was a horrible feeling - a mild sense of having been violated in some way, not to mention incredibly annoying!

Later that day, after speaking with a neighbour, my friend discovered that almost every car, bin, fence and garage door on that side of the road had also been tagged.
Yes it is Coniston and one expects things like this to happen on occasion. But this happened on a MONDAY NIGHT of all things!!! A rainy Monday night at that!!
With such a mindless attack on so many peoples property, you can imagine quite easily that it was some little bastard/s with nothing better to do on his/her/their way to the train station.

Driving up Gladstone Avenue past West Wollongong TAFE yesterday evening I noticed THREE cars with missing number plates. All 3 still had dirt where the plates had been, suggesting this had been done very recently.

I subsequently went out and purchased non-reversible screws. I figured the $1.50 and 10 minutes it took to put them on was well worth it.
As it suggests in bold text on the packaging;

"Number plate theft is on the rise!"

You bet it is!!!!

[In case you are unsure why this is so, the latest thing in the world of petty crime is to put fake plates on your car, fill it up at a servo then drive off at high speeds and dump the number plates.]

I read an article recently written by a mother, suggesting she had seen a small group of 13 year old boys loitering around her street and mentioned the 'coincidental' petty crimes that were committed later that night. As she commented, "Where do their parents think their 13 year old kids are at that time of night?!! At that age I was asleep in bed! My parents wouldn't have it any other way and neither would I!"

The screws can be purchased at Repco, near 'Video Ezy' in Wollongong.

I strongly recommend getting some ASAP!