Waterside shop owner Richard Campbell with damaged defibrillator
A 14-year-old boy is due to appear at court in a Derry court today charged with criminal damage, police say.
The charge relates to a defibrillator that was damaged in Church Meadow during the early hours of August 21.
CCTV footage showed a male approaching the Waterside shop at around 4.20 am on Sunday morning.
He is seen activating the device before throwing it onto the Rossdowney Road.
The equipment was installed outside the Church Meadows Spar shop in June after a major fundraising campaign by the local community.
Shop manager, Richard Campbell said it’s a vital piece of equipment bought by the local people for use in the worst-case scenarios.
It’s life-saving equipment, accessible 365 days a year, it doesn’t require any training and it’s free to use,” said Mr Campbell.
Teen male caught on CCTV camera pulling out defibrillator and throwing it onto the ground
“He’s taken it in his hand, launched it across the road, smashed it and destroyed it – £1,500 of life-saving equipment in pieces.
“We’ve been fundraising for about 12 months and we’ve only had it installed for two months. It took a lot of effort and time to get it installed,” he added.
“The local people in this town, customers, that’s who raised the money, and they are disgusted and so are we.”
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