‘Terrorising’ shoplifters, people ‘defecating in bushes’ and drivers speeding ‘like lunatics’ were among a number of crime and anti-social behaviour concerns raised at a public meeting in Ryde.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones and Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson yesterday (Thursday) evening hosted a discussion covering issues including police visibility, CCTV and retail crime.
The 2 Conservative politicians were joined at Ryde’s Yelfs Hotel by senior police officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (HIWC), Jim Pegler, director of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Violence Reduction Unit and Gareth Lewis, the founder of UK Partners Against Crime.
One Ryde business owner told the meeting of shoplifting ‘terrorising’ retail outlets in the town, adding ‘businesses are suffering’.
Speaking later in the evening, Marcus Cator, retail crime lead at HIWC, said:
“The frustration for me is the potential perspective that victims aren’t retailers and retailers aren’t victims which is absolutely incorrect.
“One of the biggest problems I have is the underreporting of retail crime. If we don’t know what’s going on, we can’t police it. If we don’t know where the hotspots are, we can’t put the resources in the right place.
“But…(in) the British Retail Crime Survey 2025, we are apparently the best force in the country for our response to retail crime. That’s taken an awful lot of work to achieve.”
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Another resident complained of drug use:
“People defecating in the bushes”, urination and “drunken behaviour” in St Thomas’ Rest Gardens, “right across” from his doorstep.
Andy McDonald, chief inspector at HIWC, said the area:
“A place where people go to congregate gets targeted police patrols. He pledged to provide support and “not rest on our laurels”.
Mr Cator added it was ‘really important’ to call 101 (non-emergency enquiries) to ‘keep flooding it with information’ and ‘help build up the picture’.
As a Ryde resident, the only lunatic speeding I have seen has been late at night or early in the morning. During the day the roads are usually so congested you’ll be lucky to even get to the speed limit, let alone exceed it!
What roads are people seeing speeding on?
I suggest you go to Specsavers, because
every road I go down, some B’stard is speeding.
If your eyesight is that good, perhaps you could name where and when the speeding is happening, that way the Police could sort the problem out!
Classic line there. “If we don’t know it’s going on, we can’t police it”.
What utter tosh… people have given up reporting, because nothing substantial happens about it.
Speeding is the number one problem on the island.
It’s about time speed camera’s like the ones in the
big smoke were placed islandwide.
That will stop inconsiderate B’stards speeding
especially when they start receiving heavy fines
in the post.
The real problem is pensioners wanting the island turned into gods waiting room in silence
At least we can’t squat low enough to defecate in bushes
I hate boy racers & noisy stupid little learner driver whiny motorbikes, they are such brainless chavs
You will be surprised, it is not only the young ones
who are speeding, there is a serious speeding problem
on the island and I am pleased it is finally being
addressed.
How are these modified antisocial cars even legal ? I hear them racing at night & they scare my cat,where are the Police ever ?
Decent speed Camera’s will do the trick, also the
Council could start installing speed humps
to slow the speeding motorists down.
Who was MR letter box at the meeting, what was his message?
The Esplanade in Ryde, day and night, has been a race track for a long time. The speed that the motorcycles and cars are reaching is outrageous, regularly exceeding 70mph. The noise is unbelievable and goes on through the night. Every one them are far exceeding noise emission laws with their modified or aftermarket exhaust pipes and must wake up a thousand people with each circuit they continuously do down the Esplanade, up George St, around the top of town then back again. They are operating with impunity and affecting quality of life in this area and something should be done before there is a fatality when one of them loses control and goes up on the pavement into pedestrians or head on into oncoming traffic.