Fury over 'missing' CCTV tape (From Free Press Series)

Fury over 'missing' CCTV tape

A MAN who suffered serious facial injuries after an assault in Caldicot is fuming after being told the case against his attackers was being dropped because important CCTV evidence was 'lost'.

Simon Samuel, aged 27, was subjected to a vicious attack in full view of CCTV cameras in Newport Road, Caldicot last year.

The incident was picked up by CCTV operators who alerted the police. The alleged assailants were later arrested and appeared in Abergavenny magistrates court in January 2004, charged with actual bodily harm.

The case was adjourned for police to examine the CCTV footage.

But at the second court appearance, Mr Samuels and his wife Mel, 36, of Elm Road, Caldicot were told by the Crown Prosecutor that the tape had in fact been lost and the case was being dismissed through lack of evidence.

"It's a disgrace that something so vital to a court case could be lost," said Mel.

Simon added: "We want the police to explain exactly what went wrong and to say they're sorry."

"We've been living in fear ever since, we hardly go anywhere any more because we are constantly being harassed.

In August of last year, Mel, a hairdresser and her husband Simon, a factory worker, were confronted by two men as they left a local club.

Mel recalled: "I knew they were coming for us and there was nothing we could do. The next thing I knew they knocked Simon to the floor and were kicking him in the head and face. I thought they were going to kill him.

"I tried to get them off Simon, but I was knocked unconscious to the ground." "I have lost all faith in the police," Mel added.

"The criminals have got off and we're still paying for it. I wonder if there ever was any tape of the attack in the first place."

Cllr Harris said: "I have made my protest known about the situation with CCTV in Caldicot in the past.

"They say there is nothing wrong, but this clearly shows it is not effective. "We are paying for something that is not working. The criminals know it is not working. There doesn't seem to be any team work between the people controlling the cameras and the police."

Police were not available to comment by the time the Free Press went to print.