Sick thugs put razor blades on kids’ slides

A handful of “sick thugs” are melting razor blades into children’s slides, loosening screws on swings and rubbing dog excrement into play equipment in a concerted string of attacks on playgrounds across the city over the past few months.

City councillor Niall McNelis said he was aware of a number of play areas which had been vandalised in a particularly vicious manner recently.

He urged the public to be vigilant and report any damage to the Gardaí in a bid to curb the antisocial behaviour.

His call was echoed by Independent councillor Mike Cubbard, who voiced his anger over the significant vandalism caused to what was once a state-of-the art facility in the Westside.

A fire last Halloween has ruined the skate park and the popular swing and zip line has been left unusable.

Cllr McNelis said the Cappagh Park playground in Knocknacarra has been closed for nearly three months for a complete overhaul due to vandalism as well as wear and tear. It is now earmarked for reopening in a fortnight after Galway City Council ordered new equipment.

And Cappagh Park is not alone.

“There are a couple of cases of bad, sick individuals who have melted razor blades into slides to cut the kids as they go down. I’ve heard of a few cases where they’ve smeared dog dirt on the bars and slides and burned out a wheelie bin and threw it onto of the basket swing,” he fumed.

“They go and loosen the screws on the swings so they’re rocking back and over and breaking bottles at the bottom of the slides so the kids fall into glass. These are just sick thugs.”

While he declined to name the actual playgrounds to ensure they were not stigmatised, the representative from Knocknacarra said this is an issue on all sides of the city.

“I don’t think it’s the same people doing it. It’s large groups of youngsters egging each other on trying to impress the girls. We just don’t have facilities for kids aged between 15 and 18 – not that that’s an excuse for melting razor blades onto a slide,” he insisted.

For more on the issue of playground vandalism, see this week’s Galway City Tribune