Graves are wrecked at cemetery

Eric Baxter • Published 31 Aug 2010 14:00

A GRIEVING family is calling for police patrols to be stepped up at Gourock Cemetery after around 60 gravestones were damaged.

Dozens of memorials have been knocked down and smashed during a spate of attacks by vandals.

It’s thought others may have fallen over and never been repaired.

Gourock couple Robert and Carol Wilson spotted the latest damage when they visited a bench they had placed there in memory of Carol’s dad, Bernard McHugh, who passed away in 1983.

Robert, 56, who owns Wilson’s Coaches, said: “The cemetery looks as if a bomb has gone off in it. There are stones pushed over all over the place.

“We’ve had three wooden memorial benches damaged, so we put in a cast iron one instead.

“And now we’ve found that has been vandalised too. The nameplate has been scratched and the seating slats smashed out.

“A cemetery is a sacred place where people go to have their thoughts and their prayers.

“Maybe more police patrols would help, but it’s a sad day when the police have to patrol a cemetery.

“Many of the stones may belong to families who don’t know about the damage, or can’t afford to have them repaired or replaced. It’s terrible.”

Carol, 56, was also shocked and upset by the ongoing damage.

She said: “The vandalism is so disrespectful to the people who have passed away and their relatives.

“I wonder how the vandals would like it if they found their own relatives’ gravestones or memorials had been damaged? It’s shocking.”

Constable Jacqueline McLaughlin, of the police community safety department in Greenock, said there are regular, high-visibility patrols in Gourock, and the cemetery is one of their priority areas because of complaints about vandalism from nearby residents.

She added: “This vandalism is very disrespectful.”

The continuing wrecking sprees were also condemned by Inverclyde Council.

A spokesman said: “Vandalism on any scale can only be condemned.

“Our cemeteries should be easily accessible places to allow law-abiding people to pay their respects or walk the grounds.”

Under council policy, families are responsible for their own lairs at the cemetery and must ensure memorials don’t pose any danger to themselves or others.

Earlier this month, 90 headstones were damaged in a wrecking spree at Greenock Cemetery. Police are still hunting for the culprits, but don’t believe the incident is linked to the destruction at the graveyard in Gourock.

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 31 Aug 10

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