Mystery of Lambourn Valley bullet holes
Book cites similar cases of 'gunfire graffiti' all over the country
MYSTERY gunmen are targeting street signs in the Lambourn Valley.
A researcher has published a book, with a foreword by Nick Ross of television's Crimewatch, called ‘Gunfire Graffiti - Overlooked Gun Crime in the UK' and which features an image of gunshot damage in East Garston on the back cover.
Author Matt Seiber said: “These are not isolated, rare instances - it is everywhere and there are patterns.”
There is particular reference to Lambourn Valley in the book, which is the culmination of four years' research and which includes scientific ballistic studies.
Mr Sieber, who lives near High Wycombe, Bucks, said: “It totally amazes me that this damage is not only there, but is left in place.”
Some of the damage appears to have been caused by large calibre, pump action shotguns, according to Mr Seiber, who said: “It is difficult to say without a ballistic analysis exactly what penetrated these signs but the bullet hole that you can see very clearly on the East Garston village sign is very clean; it might well be a high velocity rifle round. You can appreciate it was fired from the direction of the village rather than towards it and it was at head height.
There is also recent gunfire damage to signs in the Hungerford area, according to the book.
Mr Seiber, a fleet driver training consultant, said the idea for the book came to him when his work took him to South Yorkshire. He noticed gunfire damage and said: “This triggered memories of identical damage in Northern Ireland in the 1980's and stumbling into a roadside shoot in Spain in 1975 and being shot at.”
Spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said: “If a sign is damaged for any reason, the council would investigate and replace if necessary. Minor isolated damage would not be reported to the police .
“However, if there a trend of regular or serious damage, this would be.”
The book has been published by crime specialists www.watersidepress.co.uk
The website is at www.gunfire-graffiti.co.uk
