21 cars damaged during incident in Portadown - one man is charged to appear before court in Craigavon

Sinn Fein Cllr Paul Duffy said he received reports of a number of cars damaged and discovered his own car was damaged during the incident in Obins Street on Monday night, March 18.

Officers investigating said the 34-year-old remains in custody. Meanwhile this morning a PSNI spokesperson said one man, aged 34, has been charged with more than 20 counts of causing criminal damage.

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Cllr Duffy said: “This was an outrageous spree which has resulted in many cars being damaged and people being left out of pocket to get them repaired. Many of the cars had damaged wing mirrors and more than 20 cars suffered damage. Much of this type of damage is under the excess so people will be out a lot of money.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “A report was received at around 11.50pm on Monday night that a man walking along Obins Street caused damage to parked cars as he passed. Officers attended and arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage and brought him to custody where he remains at this time. 21 vehicles have been reported damaged to date and officers would advise car owners in the area to check their vehicles and report any new damage to police immediately.

"Enquiries are ongoing and police would ask anyone with any information, dash-cam or CCTV footage, which could assist with the investigation, to call them in Mahon Road on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 2136 18/03/24. A report can be made online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.”

Meanwhile this morning a PSNI spokesperson said: “Police investigating a number of incidents of criminal damage in Obins Street, Portadown, on Monday 18th March have charged a man.

"A 34-year-old man has been charged with over 20 counts of causing criminal damage. He is due to appear before Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on April 12th. As is usual procedure all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.”