A father who, along with his seven-year-old daughter, witnessed a man urinating in their driveway has slammed the police for their investigation into the incident.
Craig Jackson, 53, who lives in Sutton Bridge, encountered the same man urinating at his property twice during September – and the second time his daughter was there.
Mr Jackson reported it to the police — and provided a code for them to get CCTV footage of the incident — but says this was never followed up by the police.
Craig Jackson
Lincolnshire Police, which is one of the lowest funded in the country, says that the incident was investigated as a potential public order offence and added that no suspect had been identified.
Mr Jackson said: “The very first time it happened he had come down my driveway and was urinating so I had some harsh words with him.
“One week later he was there again and I was with my daughter – I told her to go inside – and I took a photo of the man, rang the non-emergency number and reported it to the police.
“A neighbouring property had captured him on CCTV and I fed all this to the police who repeatedly promised to get the footage but failed to do it.”
Wharf Street in Sutton Bridge. PHOTO: GOOGLE MAPS
Mr Jackson also provided an address to the police where he believed the man lived at but feels he and his daughter have been failed in this case when CCTV wasn’t followed up in time.
He said: “We needed a special code for the CCTV – which is retained for 30 days – and we went to a lot of trouble to get the code.
“Police repeatedly promised to get the footage and failed to do it – the holding footage had lapsed – they should have been in a position to follow it up and identify it.
Sir John Hayes: PHOTO: SUPPLIED
“I received a letter dated November 25 stating ‘we are facing evidential difficulties in identifying the suspect in the reported incident – the lack of video evidence restricts us in our investigation’.”
Mr Jackson believed that by providing a partial photo, CCTV footage and a potential address it could have resulted in a better outcome for him and his daughter.
He said: “The police never showed up – all my communication was by email and then a letter.
A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said police followed up on the information given
“If they had dispatched someone they could have resolved it – we don’t want our daughter to be exposed to that at such a young age.
“From talking to people round here – in Holbeach, Long Sutton – they feel abandoned by the police – there is no visible community policing- they are not acting on information.”
By not getting a suitable resolution after reporting the incident Mr Jackson feels it emboldens criminal behaviour if there is no deterrent by being caught.
He added: “I cannot believe over a 30-day period that they couldn’t be bothered to go round there and check the CCTV footage
“I have seen one foot patrol in the 22 years that I have lived here.
“They should have been in a position to follow it up and identify it – what an absolute dereliction of duty.”
Mr Jackson will be following up a complaint with the police and crime commissioner and called on MP Sir John Hayes for support – who mentioned his case during Parliamentary questions to the Solicitor General last year.
He cited the case and asked what more could be done for those who have fallen victim to crime concluding that ‘when crimes of that kind are not investigated properly, people lose their faith in justice. We must deal with those crimes.’
Following the question Sir John said: “People expect common sense policing in situations such as this.
“If this had been investigated swiftly, it could have been resolved.”
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “We received a report at 2.46pm on September 28 reporting a male urinating on a driveway in Wharf Street, Long Sutton, on two occasions.
“As there was no suggestion at the time that there was any sexual element involved, the incident was investigated as a potential public order offence.
“We have completed our investigation and no suspect has been identified.
“If anyone has information relating to this incident, please call 101 quoting Incident 209 of September 28.”
The spokesperson also confirmed that police followed up on information given regarding the identity of the man.
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