An Aberdeen man whose SUV tyres were one of a number to be deflated overnight has hit out at the “attention seekers” responsible.
42-year-old Mr Christie, an HGV driver who lives in the Ashgrove area of Aberdeen, had all four tyres on his diesel Jaguar E-Pace SUV vandalised.
It is believed that the tyres on the vehicles were deflated using lentils, something that has been used by so-called “Tyre Extinguishers” – whose aim is to “make SUV ownership impossible” in urban areas – across the UK.
This has happened in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with some believing that the incidents in Ashgrove (Cadenhead Road) and Cornhill (Cornhill Gardens) may have been down to a “trend” on TikTok.
However, Mr Christie believes this was a targeted attack, due to it being SUVs that were mainly damaged, although smaller cars were also vandalised in some areas.
Both of his and his wife’s motorbikes were not damaged, while other cars (non SUVs) were untouched on their street, with him saying the perpetrators “knew what they were doing”.
He added: “I’ve got an SUV because my dad’s got brain damage and I need to take him with his wheelchair and my mum’s riddled with arthritis and a fused ankle.
“I’ve also got a wife and a dog, so I can’t go and buy a one litre Fiesta to keep these tree huggers happy. I need an SUV.”
It took over an hour and a half for Mr Christie to get his tyres repaired, while a neighbour had to wait for the AA to come out and fix hers, with another missing a doctor’s appointment.
‘Spiral effect’
A number of reports were made to police about the vandalism, however, Mr Christie was unimpressed by the actions of the force, asking why they did not post about it on their social media pages.
“It’s got a spiral effect these idiots doing this and I just don’t understand why the police aren’t doing anything about it.”
Describing it as a “new age of attention seeking”, the Ashgrove resident said that vandalising people’s private property will not help the cause of environmentalism and could be preventing on-call medical workers from going to help people in need.
“Attacking somebody’s SUV that’s got to go to work in the morning, what’s that proving?”
“Do you think I’m going to go and sell my 4X4? Jaguar is still going to make them,” he said, adding: “I would love to have face-to-face with them in a non-violent way.”
Mr Christie has urged those behind the tyre deflations to “think before they do it”, adding: “If they put that much effort into actually doing something good for the community, we would be living in a better place,” he said.
‘Reckless and potentially dangerous’
Police Inspector Paul Hammond added: “All reports of tyres being deliberately deflated are taken seriously as this kind of action is reckless and potentially dangerous, which could put drivers and other road users at risk.
“If you see anyone acting suspiciously close to parked vehicles then call us on 101. Drivers should also check their vehicles before they set off if they suspect they could have been tampered with.”
