The owner of a car repair garage has been plagued by a gang of teen yobs who have set fire to cars, stolen from his tills and nearly seriously injured his staff.
Neil Gibson has faced years of torment from youngsters at his business, Smile Servicing and Repairs, in the Hilsea area of Portsmouth, leaving him thousands of pounds out of pocket and fearing for the safety of his employees.
The 57-year-old began operating the garage in 2009, but has seen a sudden rise of vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the site in recent years, with yobs causing havoc on a daily basis.
‘We’ve had cars being set on fire, we’ve had drug dealing on the site. Coming in in the morning, we’d find drug-taking paraphernalia in the car park,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘It was probably a daily occurrence. It’s mindless. Absolutely mindless.’
Shocking video obtained by the Daily Mail showed one youngster trying to gain access to the garage by a back door, before grabbing a broom and using it to smash a car windscreen.
Neil also told how one person stole thousands of pounds worth of cash and equipment from inside the shop, while another almost injured a member of staff in his 60s after throwing a brick millimeters from his head.
When Neil reported the incident with the brick to the police, he claims their reply was simply: ‘Well it’s just kids’. Following several other reports, Hampshire Constabulary were unable to identify a ‘pattern of behaviour’ and have not made any arrests.
Such responses have left Neil feeling ‘completely and utterly helpless’ and is ‘disappointed’ that no serious action has been taken against the group, who have seemingly been allowed to run riot ‘without any repercussions’.
A group of teens sit on a wall at Neil Gibson’s garage, some of which appear to be puffing a vape
A clip on January 17 last year shows two yobs jumping on car roofs and again trying to open car doors before being chased away by Neil
Neil at his car repair shop, Smile Servicing & Repairs Ltd, which has been plagued by a gang of teen yobs who have set fire to cars, robbed his tills and nearly injured his staff
‘We started in 2009 and at first, it was okay. Portsmouth is a pretty deprived area, so you’re gonna have to accept a few bits and pieces,’ Neil told the Daily Mail.
‘I would say it was particularly bad three or four years ago, that’s when it was sort of daily occurrences. Right up until the beginning of this year.
‘It was one or two of them, early teens. Their aim was just to be a bloody nuisance.
‘I can’t tell you why it was me. I don’t know it was just me, it could have been others.
‘I’m not particularly bothered about whether it’s anybody else, but I did feel we were being targeted.’
CCTV footage from outside his shop shows several youths standing on cars, sitting on walls while vaping and even trying to break into the garage.
In one incident from November 15, 2023, a youngster wearing a balaclava can be seen attempting to open a number of car doors and the garage’s back door.
He then picks up a broom nearby and clambers on top of a car before smashing it on the car windscreen twice, leaving a huge crack on the glass.
Just ten days later, two more youngsters were caught on a wall at the back of the garage. When a member of staff comes out to confront them, one of the boys ignores him and continues to puff on his vape.
A third clip on January 17 last year shows two yobs jumping on car roofs and again trying to open car doors before being chased away by Neil.
Neil took over the garage (pictured) in 2009, but has seen a sudden rise of vandalism and anti-social behaviour in recent years
A teen dressed all in black stands on top of a car at Neil’s garage
Neil said he initially reported most incidents to the police, but soon became frustrated over their seeming lack of urgency and action when he did so.
‘You’re encouraged to report the crime online. It’s hopeless and takes about an hour. I think they do that to stop you from wasting their time.
‘But it’s very difficult, and you get to the stage where you just don’t want to do it anymore.’
But the incident that pushed Neil ‘over the top’ was when one of his staff members narrowly avoided being hit in the head by a brick.
‘It’s an old part of Portsmouth, and there’s quite a lot of armaments buildings. One of those buildings is near our site. And so you can get up on top of it.
‘Some lads were throwing bricks and old roof tiles and stuff. One literally missed one of my staff by millimeters.
‘He was pretty shaken. I didn’t realize at the time when he told me how close it was.
‘He is in his 60s, and it did shake him up.
‘I don’t understand what they’re aiming to do, other than kill someone, because that’s what they’re doing.
‘And I phoned the police at least while they were there. And I said if you send somebody now, you’ll catch them.
‘Their response was: “well, it’s just kids”.’
‘Well, if you’re lying in the car park with half a brick hanging out at the top of your head, you’re not going to say to yourself “Well, it’s just kids. It’s just my brain hanging out of my skull.”
‘That did it for me. That really did it.’
A teen stands on protective netting that Neil put up to prevent the cars being damaged
Two teens sit on a wall overlooking the garage, next to a damaged car
Neil submitted a complaint to the Hampshire Constabulary, but no action was taken against the group.
‘I mean, to be honest, I’m not blaming the police as such, in that they’ve got no money, they’ve got no staff.
‘But these culprits are getting away with it. They know there’s no penalty. And of course, they’re not being parented properly, because I didn’t do that when I was a kid.’
The business owner has also witnessed what he believes to be a drug deal taking place on site and often sees drug paraphernalia littered outside.
‘Incidentally, when I reported the drug deal. I told the police over the phone, this is the registration number. I described the car and gave them the registration number.
‘And they said to me the registration number belongs to a completely different car, like I’d got it wrong, but I was standing there looking at it.
‘So, not only were they dealing drugs, but they were driving around in a clone car as well.
‘I said come now, you’ll catch him. But nope, not interested.
‘They almost broke my window with a BB gun and I couldn’t bothered to report it. I couldn’t afford the time. And I know nothing’s gonna happen. It’s really disappointing.
‘You do feel completely and utterly helpless.
‘In truth, we did have the odd visit from bobby’s on the street. But there didn’t appear to be any repercussions.
‘On one occasion, they came around, and found the chap who threw a brick and I just saw them having a little chat, getting in the car and driving away again.
‘You wonder what’s going on. And therefore, you think, well what is the point in me reporting it If they can have a little chat with them and go away.’
Cars parked behind Neil’s workshop in Portsmouth under a sheet of protective netting
The netting (pictured) was put up to prevent the cars being damaged from youngsters throwing bricks
Neil (pictured) has been left feeling ‘completely and utterly helpless’ and is ‘disappointed’ that no serious action has been taken against the group
The swathes of vandalism have cost Neil thousands of pounds to replace equipment and repair damaged cars, most of which he is forced to pay for himself.
‘Recently I had to replace a rather large pane of glass, £2,000 just for a sheet of glass, something like that.
‘A business like us has a £5,000 insurance excess so it comes out your pocket.’
In September 2021, someone also stole thousands of pounds of cash from the tills and between £3,000 to £4,000 worth of equipment.
A member of staff reported it to the police and actually had a visit from officers who came to investigate.
‘I was on holiday but I do believe that the police did attend. But that was all we heard, we didn’t hear any more after that,’ Neil said.
There are times when culprits have been less fortunate, with Neil having caught someone in the act riffling through his tills on one occasion.
Neil has also been forced to spend money on preventative measures to mitigate the damages, such as installing netting to prevent bricks hitting the cars as well as CCTV.
‘We’ve installed CCTV, because when I reported the the thing with the guys throwing the bricks, they asked have you got CCTV.
‘I said no I don’t. And that’s it. No one was interested if I didn’t have it on film.
‘This latest one with the smashing of the windscreen, we were requested again to send CCTV, which I did.
‘But never heard another word about that either. So, I’m just throwing money around.’
The entrance to Neil’s garage – Smile Servicing & Repairs Ltd – in Portsmouth, Hampshire
Neil Gibson at his car repair shop, which he began operating in 2009
‘I sit at home sometimes and look at the CCTV on my phone, just to make sure everything’s alright,’ Neil continued.
‘CCTV is a great tool, and we probably would have had it eventually anyway, because we get to use it during the day, we can keep an eye on what’s going on.
‘But it is never going to prevent an attack. It will record it after it’s happened, but then it’s too late, isn’t it?
‘It might be a preventative thing if someone doesn’t want to get seen doing it. But a CCTV camera does not walk the beat.
‘If it continued I would have to spend tens of thousands of pounds on great big high fences and things like that.
‘But, you know, we’re a small business, I can’t do that.’
Neil claims that since the start of the year, there has been a lot less incidents of anti social behaviour, although he is reluctant to credit to the police.
‘It has reduced, so I couldn’t say that it’s got nothing to do with the police, it may well do, but I have no reason to believe it has.
‘On the day-to-day, you are still paranoid that similar incidents might occur again. But it’s nice to come into work and not find that something’s happened.’
Hampshire Constabulary said the most recent report they received involving the business was for anti-social behaviour in November 2024.
The force also said one report of trespass and no damage was made in January 2024, two reports of criminal damage were made in October 2023, a theft report in September 2021, and a criminal damage report in September 2019.
‘No suspects were subsequently arrested or charged, and a pattern of behaviour was not identified based on what was reported to us,’ it added.
Labour announced last year that it is drawing up new laws to create ‘respect orders’ plus enhanced police powers to confiscate nuisance vehicles, including e-scooters and e-bikes ridden dangerously on the pavement.
Yobs will be handed the new type of order by a civil court and breaches could lead to immediate arrest and a jail sentence.
However, respect orders will be less wide-ranging than their predecessor – anti-social behaviour orders – which were introduced by Tony Blair‘s government in 1998 and scrapped by the Coalition government in 2014.
Asbos applied to anyone over the age of 10 and carried up to five years’ imprisonment, but Labour’s new measure will only be imposed on adults and carry a maximum two-year term.
‘Respect orders will give police and councils the powers they need to crack down on repeated anti-social behaviour, keeping our communities safe and ensuring repeat offenders face the consequences of their actions,’ former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said last year.
Speaking in September about ASB in Portsmouth, District Commander for Portsmouth Superintendent Paul Markham said: ‘As with any city nationally, anti-social behaviour impacts our communities and we work with our partners to tackle this issue.
‘We take every report of ASB, shoplifting and wider retail crime seriously and are very keen to encourage our communities to report this to us.
‘Reporting is vital as it allows us to build a picture of what is happening in our City and how we can best respond to this.
‘We do not believe that there is such a thing as “low level crime” – every crime has an impact on the victim and we strive to put victims first in our response.
‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary works in partnership with Portsmouth City Council to tackle repeat offenders and find long term solutions to reducing ASB’.
