Shop cannot name and shame vandal

Police said the sign could cause further vandalism of the Lusbys' shop

A couple who displayed a vandal's name on the shop window he smashed were told by police to remove it, because he had already been punished.

Dennis and Christine Lusby wrote, Damage Done by Ben Hill, on the boarded-up window of their village store in St Breward, Cornwall.

Hill, 20, of no fixed abode, was jailed last week for offences including breaking the window.

Police said the sign should be removed in case it "inflamed" the situation.

Hill, 20, caused a total of £3,000 damage last month when he attacked cars, homes, farm buildings and a football club.

People say his human rights were violated, but so have mine Christine Lusby, shopkeeper

He also admitted possession of an offensive weapon, a knife, and asked for two other charges taken into consideration, when he appeared before magistrates in Bodmin.

He was in breach of a suspended sentence previously imposed for theft and criminal damage. Hill was jailed for 74 days.

Mrs Lusby said of the shop sign: "It's not politically correct, but I've done it.

"People say his human rights were violated, but so have mine.

"What am I supposed to do? Say, 'Oh dear, what a shame'?

"Why shouldn't people face up to what they've done?"

'Extreme remorse'

Devon and Cornwall Police said that a neighbourhood beat officer had advised the Lusbys to remove the sign.

The force said: "The officer felt that the offender had been dealt with and punished for the damage he had caused.

"Publicly naming him in this way could inflame the situation and possibly tempt one of his friends to carry out further acts of vandalism on the shop."

Hill's mother, Anne Hill, who lives in the village, declined to be interviewed but said her son had expressed extreme remorse for what he had done.