No connection between apples on walls and crime say police – In Your Area

Image : Pauline E / Geograph

Apples left on walls are not a sign of criminal activity, police have said.

Speaking at Barnstaple Town Council on Monday, December 14, Councillor Mel Lovering asked Inspector Andrew Wills about the issue following a strange email she had received from a resident.

She said: There seem to be codes being drawn on fences, garden gates, different areas of peoples houses, and some are insisting that apples are being left on a wall.

They say these codes are indicating to burglary gangs in North Devon whether somebody is in, our, whether there is a dog in the residency, whether it is a second home. Is this true, and is there anything that can be done about it?

Can we put out a message that if you find anything on your garden gate, can it be removed and let 101 know?

Inspector Wills responded saying that it was speculation, and no conclusion could be made.

If there was any information underlining that, such as those properties which were subsequently targeted, he said.

Apples left on a wall could be anything, and indeed is very different from a mark being left on a fence.

He said there was a danger of connecting a series of unconnected events.

That in themselves doesnt mean anything and are formulating a concern, he added.

Theres information going back years that say some travelling criminals will mark walls or come and do your block paving on your driveway and they will put a pattern on there that means youre a mug. Having some evidence is entirely different, and I am not aware of any evidence linking a series of crime to the property being marked.

If you do want to send that information, we can make sure we can record it as intelligence, and if we get any links with any trends like that emerging, we will be aware of it.

I wouldnt want to publicise that as an ongoing trend.

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No connection between apples on walls and crime say police - In Your Area