Ref. 72285-24A COACH company boss is claiming that a teenager who appeared before magistrates charged with causing £15,000 worth of damage to some of his vehicles was paid to do it.

Paul Ratcliffe, 43, who runs Phoenix Coaches, based on Marshgate Trading Estate, believes that a 17-year-old youth was paid to smash the windows of three of his vehicles with pickaxes and hammers.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a referral order by Swindon magistrates in youth court yesterday after he admitted causing the damage.

Mr Ratcliffe claims the police are investigating someone who paid the Swindon boy to do it but the police were unable to confirm this yesterday.

The teenager committed the offence on September 20, last year, in the middle of the night, but was not charged for it until December 22.

He was given a referral order by magistrates, meaning he will be kept under observation by groups, including social services.

After the hearing, Mr Ratcliffe said: "I think it is ludicrous that someone can go and do something like that and get next to nothing for it.

"Since the mass vandalism of our coaches we have upped our security and now have surveillance cameras, installed gates, and the police have also increased their patrols in the area.

"We have had no serious incidents since.

"We have had people filtering off diesel but nothing as serious."

Straight after the vandalism Mr Ratcliffe ended up spending nights in his coaches to try and catch the vandals until he was able to hire a security guard.

The company, which works across the region, also offered a £2,000 reward for anyone who could identify the vandals.

During the days following the attack, the company, which has been operating for three and a half years, struggled to make sure the vandalism did not affect the business.

All the workers had to do overtime to get the coaches repaired and back on the road in the space of a week. Windows needed to be replaced, some as big as 5ft by 4ft.

Earlier in 2004 some coaches from the firm were attacked during journeys. One coach, carrying Goan workers from a Chippenham factory, had rocks thrown at it.

Jamie Hill