‘You Have Been Seen Driving While Using Your Mobile’

Police in the Gosport area are looking for a vigilante who has slashed the tyres of at least 20 people accused of driving while talking on cell phones. According to reports, the overnight attacks have been taking place for several weeks, and each one is accompanied by a warning made from words cut out of newspapers. “Warning. You have been seen driving while using your mobile phone,” the messages say.

Police believe the perpetrator, dubbed the “Mobile Slasher”, may have been involved in an accident with someone speaking on a mobile phone. However police cannot explain how the vigilante finds his victims. Theories include that he or she follows victims home and/or somehow traces their addresses through number plate and DVLA data.

However, the twist in the already bizarre story is that, according to the Telegraph, the victims insist they have not been using their mobile phones while driving.

Inspector Kevin Cuffe, of Hampshire police, said: “Around 20 incidents have occurred across the Gosport area over the past several months. Whoever is doing this may feel that he or she has some sort of justification, but there is never any excuse for vandalising the property of others.”

It has been illegal to talk on a handheld mobile phone while driving since December 2003. Motorists caught out are liable to receive a fixed penalty of £30, which can increase to as much as £1,000 if the driver is taken to court and convicted.