Postboxes Blown Apart
Newcastle Herald
Thursday January 5, 2006
CRAIG Pike woke early on Wednesday last week to what he thought was a mad man in his street with a gun.
The resident of Yorston Street, Warners Bay, ran outside to find an Australia Post mailbox blown to pieces. "It sounded like a gun, I thought someone might have been out there with a gun," Mr Pike said."If they had put that in my letterbox out the front I reckon it would have blown it to pieces and it would have gone through my front window."The incident was one of three Australia Post mailbox attacks last week, with another at Warners Bay, on the corner of King and Martin streets, blown up the following night. The first attack, the previous Tuesday, was on a box on the corner of Macquarie and Kenrick streets, at Wallsend, which was set on fire. Mr Pike said a side panel of the mailbox was flung about 30 metres and small pieces of shrapnel were thrown into his yard. "If that hit you on the head, it would kill you, it would kill you," he said of the shrapnel. "I think the people responsible are brainless . . . it's a little bit scary."Newcastle police media liaison officer Senior Constable Tony Tamplin said tampering and interfering with Australia Post street posting boxes carried a maximum jail penalty of 10 years. "It's a serious offence because it is a community issue, it costs them money and it costs them time," he said. "Now that postbox is not there, the mail is not going to make it to its destination . . . whether it's Christmas cards, [or] a cheque to someone."These acts of vandalism will affect the community."Senior Constable Tamplin said there was nothing to link the mailbox attacks to a spate of similar incidents involving home-made bombs in Merewether and Hamilton in June. He urged anyone with information to contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Australia Post has asked customers who used the damaged boxes after 6pm on the days of the attacks tocheck whether the mail reached its destination or phone 13 13 18 for more information.
© 2006 Newcastle Herald