A Kirkton resident who said a year ago that living in the Dundee estate was like being in The Purge has warned riots will happen again.
The man, who has asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, has spoken out after the latest spate of disorder hit the area on Monday night.
School windows were smashed, fireworks were thrown at cars and police, several fires were started and yobs raced round the streets on motorbikes during the rampage.
Similar problems last year involving fires and off-road biking led the man to compare it to The Purge – a film about people living in a lawless society for a 12-hour period.
Speculation over Bonfire Night gatherings
Twelve months on, the man has told The Courier nothing has changed – and has joined other residents in voicing fears about what might happen on Bonfire Night amid speculation about further planned gatherings.
He said: “I’m very concerned about Saturday night. We had planned on doing some fireworks as a family but our worry is that if we’re in our back garden, what’s going to be happening out the front?
“One of our older kids has seen posts [on social media] that Saturday is going to be even more chaotic than Halloween was.
“We now won’t be doing fireworks, which has upset our kids, but it’s what we need to do so we all stay aware and safe.
“I’m angry that people have so little disregard for others. Halloween is a night children should be able to enjoy without being told by people not to go in certain directions and to stay safe.”
The resident says that on Halloween he guarded his own garden while his partner and children went out guising.
He said: “I spent the entire time they were away standing in our front garden to make sure our bins weren’t stolen to be set alight, and to make sure the car wasn’t damaged, since one of the fires on Beauly Avenue had a stolen moped in it.
“The family car had a firework thrown at it while I was outside but thankfully no damage was done.
“The idiots walking towards the square didn’t care if they were seen – those in cars were speeding back and forth constantly along with a dirt bike.
“I’m not shocked at all. I knew it’d happen again. The police didn’t do enough to prevent it from getting out of control.
“Not a single police vehicle drove along Beauly Avenue until nearer midnight.
‘We joke that martial law should be imposed’
“My partner and I joke that martial law should be imposed next Halloween and that the Army should be walking the streets.
“But we doubt that would even put these delinquents off. They’ve damaged their own area yet again for fun.”
And in a stark warning, he added: “Unless every single one of those involved are charged and dealt with appropriately, this will happen again and again.”
Police Scotland has defended its response to Monday’s riots – saying that stepping in too early to tackle the mob may have caused things to escalate.
Chief Superintendent Phil Davison said: “We need to be balanced and measured in terms of how and when we step in with tactics to quell and disperse the disorder that we’ve seen.
“That’s on the basis of sometimes going in too early can then antagonise further behaviour and make the situation worse.
“We fall back on experienced commanders that are used to dealing with situations of this nature to ensure the tactics and response provided by policing is appropriate.
“We brought the incident to a conclusion in as quick a timeframe as possible.”
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