Bude Triangle was subject to acts of vandalism in the early hours of December 1, where planted flowers were uprooted and rubbish bins were ripped apart from their brackets. The two culprits were apprehended after CCTV was reviewed by community volunteers and the information was passed on to the police.

Fast-forward two months, at the Bude-Stratton full town council meeting on Thursday, February 6, councillors were to note the successful action of the police who had administered restorative justice for the damage done to the triangle.

Restorative justice involves the victim and the offender meeting and for the impacts of the incident, in this instance, vandalism, and to find a way to repair the harm caused.

Chair, mayor of Bude Cllr Bob Willingham was pleased with how the situation was dealt with and the end result. He said: “It’s the best result we could have, the two scally-wags have actually coughed up some money for repairs and produced a letter of apology. Their names haven’t been mentioned and that was part of the deal — that it stays quiet.

“They aren’t publicly named but are on the police system. If they repeat an action again, they would be prosecuted.”

Cllr Frank Partridge said: “Can I ask the ages of these people?”

The council clerk, Keith Cornwell confirmed that they weren’t young. He said: “They weren’t youngsters, they were grown men after having far too much to drink.”

Cllr Partridge replied: “I feel that they should be prosecuted. Restorative justice isn’t good enough.”

Cllr Willingham wanted to affirm that this was the best possible outcome from the situation.

He added: “The way the police would work, they would’ve just got a caution, unfortunately the hanging offence wouldn’t work. For me this was the best result.”

Cllr Partridge disagreed and was adamant that the culprits could have both paid for the damages as well as receiving a caution from the police. He continued: “Knowing the ages of the chaps, I would’ve thought that they could have paid and been cautioned.”

The town clerk, was in agreement with Cllr Willingham. He said: “They didn’t get away with it. They did pay for it and although they didn’t get prosecuted they are on the list. There are consequences to action. If they were cautioned they wouldn’t have paid. There was discussion at a previous council meeting and there wasn’t a resolution.”

He also went on to inform the council that the damages that were paid for amassed to the total of £300.

The council voted in favour of noting the action of restorative justice, with only Cllr Heather Partridge abstaining from the vote.