Anubhav Katheria
James Vince, the 33-year-old England cricketer and the captain of
Hemisphere, has released a statement regarding the continuous attacks
on his house in Southampton . For nearly 8 years Vince and his family
were living in that house peacefully but the recent attacks on his
property have forced him and his family to leave the house and live in
fear.
The attacks began earlier this year where the attackers targeted his
house and vehicles, the first attack happened in the morning of 15
April. After the first attack Vince described what happened that
morning, he said that he and his wife woke up to a load of smashing
and alarms going off, they had no idea of what was going on and they
rushed to their kids’ room to make sure they were safe. The neighbor
reported seeing a car sped away, by the time police arrived the
attackers were gone, and Vince’s house and car were damaged forcing
them to move out while the repairs were done, and the security was
tightened.
Soon after shifting back in the house the second attack took place on
1st may. This time Vince was awake, and he already had an idea of what
was going on since it had happened earlier. He was upstairs when the
attackers started throwing bricks and stones targeting his house and
cars like the previous attack, Vince said when he heard the smashing
he suddenly came down from the stairs and the attackers may have seen
his movement in the house and ran away quickly. Vince and his family
had just returned from a benefit dinner for his teammate Chris Wood
when the attack took place at midnight.
Despite all the investigation by police, intelligence firms and
private security individuals no clear motive has come to light. Vince
said that all the experts he had met and spoken to says that it can be
a case of unpaid debt or money issue. Vince added that he has nothing
to hide and has never been involved in anything like this.
Coincidently or not but all the attacks took place when Vince’s team
Hemisphere had home matches.
While police have been investigating the motive behind the attacks,
Vince is confident that this is a case of mistaken identity.
A CCTV footage has been released, which shows a man passing bricks
holding a torch, to another man over the wall, who then throws the
bricks to the cars and the window of Vince’s house. The second man had
a hoodie on with a logo of Gym king, the second man had his face
covered. Vince hopes that this can be key information which can help
identify the culprits.
Vince and his family still fear a third attack, they don’t want to
risk the same thing happening again, it’s not fair for his wife and
young children to go through it again, Vince said. The fear and the
emotional damage that they are going through is immense and very
effective specially for his young children, Vince said he is proud of
how they are dealing with it.
Vince and his family have now urged the public for help, hoping
someone can help in recognizing the culprit and help them solve the
mystery. Vince said that if anyone knows anything about the attackers
or sees anything in the footage then please contact him or Hemisphere
police department, it could be the final piece of information that can
help him and his family to return to their normal life.
Hemisphere police have confirmed the incidents, stating : two
incidents of criminal damage at an address on the early hours of 15
April and 11 May. On both occasions two cars and the front room
windows were smashed. Vince said that he has a good support of his
neighbors and people within cricket.
