1 June 2009

The Night of the Exploding Letter Box (Tuggers Thugs Strike Again)

| deezagood
Join the conversation
40

As a relative newcomer to Canberra, my network here isn’t huge … which makes it all the more surprising that not one, not two, but three of my local friends (two in Fadden, one in Monash) had their letter boxes blown to smithereens last night.

I wonder if these were the same thugs moving through different suburbs or was there some sort organised letter-box attack?

Does a spate of this type of thing always occur around fire-cracker event weekends like the Queen’s birthday?

We could be next … how does one deter this type of vandalism? So many questions!

Join the conversation

40
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

Igglepiggle said :

Get a PO box. We did that after the 4 year old next door started stealing our mail (when we were living in Monash)

With a name like iggle piggle I am surprised you find this behaviour odd.

bd84 said :

sit on the porch with a shotgun

and a corn pipe, rockin chair and overalls? reservin that option for when my daughter is of datin age. hehehe.

peterh said :

Emlyn Ward said :

perhaps you should explain to us what you mean by catching? did he strike the kid and throw him to the ground, roughly?

Gosh I hope so!

ChrisinTurner9:47 am 02 Jun 09

Sounds like the ACT Government has had enough of being the only state that still allows fireworks.

Emlyn Ward said :

An old friend of mine heard his letterbox going up one night and he ran outside so quickly he caught one of the kids responsible.

Do you reckon the cops congratulated and thanked him on doing their jobs for them?
Not on your nelly!
They were very upset and told him he was lucky not to be charged with something himself.

Being a lawyer, of course, he knew they were full of $%#@ and told them to shut up and do their job.

perhaps you should explain to us what you mean by catching? did he strike the kid and throw him to the ground, roughly?

Emlyn Ward said :

An old friend of mine heard his letterbox going up one night and he ran outside so quickly he caught one of the kids responsible.

Do you reckon the cops congratulated and thanked him on doing their jobs for them?
Not on your nelly!
They were very upset and told him he was lucky not to be charged with something himself.

Being a lawyer, of course, he knew they were full of $%#@ and told them to shut up and do their job.

That is unbelievable – the police should be thanking your friend for catching the rotten little vandal. My friend not only got her letterbox blown up, but when trying to remove the twisted metal remains, cut open her hand and was unable to go to work yesterday (her job involves frequent hand-washing). A new letterbox will cost money and she has lost income. This isn’tjust a funny prank, it is a crime and the criminals deserve to be caught and prosecuted.

An old friend of mine heard his letterbox going up one night and he ran outside so quickly he caught one of the kids responsible.

Do you reckon the cops congratulated and thanked him on doing their jobs for them?
Not on your nelly!
They were very upset and told him he was lucky not to be charged with something himself.

Being a lawyer, of course, he knew they were full of $%#@ and told them to shut up and do their job.

sit on the porch with a shotgun

I guess the there is a disjunction between a person’s use of fireworks and a their intelligence. Or maybe its an inverse relationship? The more of one, the less of the other.

ahappychappy8:23 pm 01 Jun 09

deezagood said :

Maybe exploding letter boxes aren’t too bad in the scheme of things. Last night, my neighbor found that human faeces (at least it looked to be human and not canine) had been spread all of the bonnet of his car in a creative swirling pattern. Somebody had also taken a leak all over his car. The good news – the bloody revolting idiots left a big pile of their rubbish on his car too – complete with their empty cigarette packet, some empty bottles …. and a purchase receipt with efpost details on it as well as a birthday card with names on it. Bad luck bogans.

Sounds like an awesome Sunday night to me… but seriously, what drives someone to take a dump on a persons car? Just like one night I came out to find kids putting the tanbark outside my parents house on my car? Why bother?

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

Fill the bin with concrete – they will feel the after effects 🙂

Igglepiggle said :

Get a PO box. We did that after the 4 year old next door started stealing our mail (when we were living in Monash)

Now that is a practical and sensible idea Igglepiggle! Are they expensive? More importantly, are they cracker-proof?

Get a PO box. We did that after the 4 year old next door started stealing our mail (when we were living in Monash)

There was a dude in Hawker College who stole industrial grade explosives and did over a concrete and steel letterbox back in the early 90s. You could hear the BOOM for miles, but the sound of this young mans pants being soiled – occurring only seconds later – was reserved for the select few.

Eventually he got done by the coppers.

Explosions are fun, but you should do your homework first.

I lived in a house with a concrete and steel letterbox that was smashed to bits with a sledgehammer – which was much quieter, and probably *almost* as fun for the culprits.

There is a dumped clapped out carney car (early model Commodore) dumped at the roadworks down by Tharwa & Drakeford Drive roundabout. Looks like its got some serious ramming dammage! Anyway, even if it is the responsible car, what will get done. The cops are the least to care. I swear we will soon see the rise of vigilante groups.

Spectra said :

how does one deter this type of vandalism?

After the second explosion of my parents’ letterbox, my dad built a brand new one out of steel plates, bolted together with a solidity that would make a tank jealous. That seemed to do the trick nicely (and even if it hadn’t deterred them, the odds of “punk kids” getting their hands on enough Semtex to do any damage to that thing were pretty low).

That sounds like a challenge to me!!!

Eventually, they will lose a hand, eye, fingers, their hearing or all of the above and you should be right then, until the next idiot comes along.

Jim Jones said :

canberratowie2 said :

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

We must be in the same street chewy or close to each other. Every bin in our street was sent flying at 3 am today and I could hear it happening for about half a hour

What is wrong with this world ? if this is the shit were in now think what its going to be like in another 10 20 and 30 years !!!

I know people who used to do that 10 years ago. I fail to see why someone knocking over garbage bins is a sign of the degeneration of society into an anarchic apocalypse.

Its the End Days Jim.

seriously, if all they did was knock a few bins over i wouldn’t have cared.

But driving a car (probably stolen because it must have done some damage) at full pace into them, leaving broken bins and rubbish everywhere is another story.

Jim Jones said :

canberratowie2 said :

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

We must be in the same street chewy or close to each other. Every bin in our street was sent flying at 3 am today and I could hear it happening for about half a hour

What is wrong with this world ? if this is the shit were in now think what its going to be like in another 10 20 and 30 years !!!

I know people who used to do that 10 years ago. I fail to see why someone knocking over garbage bins is a sign of the degeneration of society into an anarchic apocalypse.

It wouldnt happen to be Bugden Avenue fadden by any chance. Ditto for 5 years ago. Bin towing at 80-100kmh a common practice along long streets!

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

But then there’ll be another bloody roadside shrine erected outside someone’s house in Canberra!

Basic rule of thumb: don’t use Australia Post posting boxes anytime between 6pm Friday and 6am Monday.

Davo111 said :

Inappropriate said :

Fairly typical around Queen’s Birthday long weekend I’m afraid.

No one would keep fireworks stored for 360 days, then take them out a week before they can buy them again to blow up a few letterboxes. That’s just silly

Maybe it was the Lemon Chicken from Lanyon Valley Chinese Restaurant?

canberratowie2 said :

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

We must be in the same street chewy or close to each other. Every bin in our street was sent flying at 3 am today and I could hear it happening for about half a hour

What is wrong with this world ? if this is the shit were in now think what its going to be like in another 10 20 and 30 years !!!

I know people who used to do that 10 years ago. I fail to see why someone knocking over garbage bins is a sign of the degeneration of society into an anarchic apocalypse.

deezagood said :

Maybe exploding letter boxes aren’t too bad in the scheme of things. Last night, my neighbor found that human faeces (at least it looked to be human and not canine) had been spread all of the bonnet of his car in a creative swirling pattern. Somebody had also taken a leak all over his car. The good news – the bloody revolting idiots left a big pile of their rubbish on his car too – complete with their empty cigarette packet, some empty bottles …. and a purchase receipt with efpost details on it as well as a birthday card with names on it. Bad luck bogans.

Busted !

canberratowie21:35 pm 01 Jun 09

chewy14 said :

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

We must be in the same street chewy or close to each other. Every bin in our street was sent flying at 3 am today and I could hear it happening for about half a hour

What is wrong with this world ? if this is the shit were in now think what its going to be like in another 10 20 and 30 years !!!

Inappropriate said :

Fairly typical around Queen’s Birthday long weekend I’m afraid.

No one would keep fireworks stored for 360 days, then take them out a week before they can buy them again to blow up a few letterboxes. That’s just silly

Maybe exploding letter boxes aren’t too bad in the scheme of things. Last night, my neighbor found that human faeces (at least it looked to be human and not canine) had been spread all of the bonnet of his car in a creative swirling pattern. Somebody had also taken a leak all over his car. The good news – the bloody revolting idiots left a big pile of their rubbish on his car too – complete with their empty cigarette packet, some empty bottles …. and a purchase receipt with efpost details on it as well as a birthday card with names on it. Bad luck bogans.

Ceej1973 said :

Ceej1973 said :

Chifley?!?!?! WOW they are bridging out, and here I was thinking that we only get carneys & bogans in the valley.

“ooops msg to self”… take wick out before lighting cracker ! I meant Charnwood not Chifley!

that was back in the ’80s. we bogans all migrated over to the southside when the north was overpopulated…

Ceej1973 said :

Chifley?!?!?! WOW they are bridging out, and here I was thinking that we only get carneys & bogans in the valley.

“ooops msg to self”… take wick out before lighting cracker ! I meant Charnwood not Chifley!

Holden Caulfield11:37 am 01 Jun 09

Inappropriate said :

Fairly typical around Queen’s Birthday long weekend I’m afraid.

How can this be? I keep getting told fireworks are only ever used by those just having a bit of fun and with good regard for the rest of the community.

Die Lefty Scum said :

I’m ashamed to admit that in my younger days I too engaged in this particular activity. But this was back in the 80’s when some of the crackers you could get at Fred’s would comfortably take your hand off if you held on too long.

or if you made a mistake and put a lit one in your back pocket, you had a very nasty surprise? mate did that. still makes me laugh to think of it. idiot.

Whatsup said :

Whilst teenagers roam the streets looking for entertainment and fireworks being available then letterboxes will be blown up. This is of course unless parents actually install some respect for others property in their kids, call me old fashioned but it might actually work.

perhaps having a family curfew might work as well?

Die Lefty Scum11:35 am 01 Jun 09

I’m ashamed to admit that in my younger days I too engaged in this particular activity. But this was back in the 80’s when some of the crackers you could get at Fred’s would comfortably take your hand off if you held on too long.

Chifley?!?!?! WOW they are bridging out, and here I was thinking that we only get carneys & bogans in the valley.

#2 – laughed so hard my drink came out my nostrils…

Whilst teenagers roam the streets looking for entertainment and fireworks being available then letterboxes will be blown up. This is of course unless parents actually install some respect for others property in their kids, call me old fashioned but it might actually work.

Hugh Lews said :

….I grew up in Canberra and YES this is pretty standard around June long weekend. Next weekend will be worse.

Typically, they will look for wooden letterboxes. Cement or brick letterboxes dont blow up with your standard firecrackers.

So Ive heard…

oh, i don’t know. back in the day we used to be able to shatter a few. They seem to build the letterboxes a bit better these days. And that was in charnwood, of course.

the new practice of driving down the street and lobbing them out the window makes me wish that, for once, the yob throwing them out would drop one in the car. I would love to see that.

….I grew up in Canberra and YES this is pretty standard around June long weekend. Next weekend will be worse.

Typically, they will look for wooden letterboxes. Cement or brick letterboxes dont blow up with your standard firecrackers.

So Ive heard…

use email.

how does one deter this type of vandalism?

After the second explosion of my parents’ letterbox, my dad built a brand new one out of steel plates, bolted together with a solidity that would make a tank jealous. That seemed to do the trick nicely (and even if it hadn’t deterred them, the odds of “punk kids” getting their hands on enough Semtex to do any damage to that thing were pretty low).

I say you’re just more conscious of the random explosions at this time of year because of the profile of our annual fireworks weekend.
The explosive kind of fireworks are illegal all year round, so not subject to any Queen’s Birthday seasonal availability.

We have an abundance of bored teenagers, and if you’re listening for it you can hear them all throughout the year, but most commonly in the summer months, as then its easier for them to stay out late and not get hypothermia\attract a layer of frost.

(Our approach to people forever trying to detonate our letterbox (also in Fadden) was just to embed a steel letterbox housing into a concrete & brick structure. It has since lasted fifteen years.)

Also to the asbsolute F**ktards who drove down our street at three in the morning smashing every garbage bin in sight, I hope the next time you try it one of the bins smashes through the windscreen and you die.

Inappropriate9:22 am 01 Jun 09

Fairly typical around Queen’s Birthday long weekend I’m afraid.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.