
EXCLUSIVE Moment yobs terrorise shopkeeper amid 'campaign of vandalism': Deflated owner opens up about daily attacks 'by drunken, drug-fuelled' youngsters
A shopkeeper has shared the horrors of a relentless campaign of vandalism caused by drunken, drug-fuelled youngsters, with some as young as just 12 years old.
Usman Munir, 38, has revealed that two of the shops he owns on Rutherglen Main Street, Glasgow, have become the target of unprecedented violent attacks caused by masked teenagers.
Having opened Ruggie Boozers off-licence in 2021, followed by ice cream shop Cheeky Moos across the road in 2023, he now fears for the future of his businesses as a result of the terrifying daily attacks caused by the yobs, who have taken to TikTok to showcase their sordid crimes.
Speaking to MailOnline he said that had previously become used to large groups of 'rowdy' youngsters frequenting his shops, demanding food, juice or to use the bathroom.
But, on Saturday, May 3, a gang of up to 10 masked teenagers entered his shop, all allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and became increasingly 'out of control', 'fighting his staff' before being forcibly removed from the premises.
Reflecting on the horrific ordeal, Mr Munir added: 'It started getting beyond a joke as a new and younger generation started coming in.
'The younger they get, the tougher they get, and the more ruthless. They were out of control.'
Just one day later, another gang of violent youths, some, he believes, as young as 12 years old, entered the store and smashed up numerous pieces of equipment and glass bottles.
They then proceeded to throw alcohol bottles at his fearful staff and even broke his lottery machine.
Terrifying CCTV footage from outside the shop shows young teenagers throwing eggs at the building and stealing signs, while in another damning clip, two youngsters appear to grab food items before quickly running out of the door without paying.
Outlining the extent of the 'appalling' violence, Mr Munir said: 'They threw white paint everywhere and so we cleaned it up the next day. But then, they just did it again.
'In the end, we realised they were watching our movements and so stopped cleaning it.'
Alongside 'fiddling' with the locks to the shop in an attempt to gain entry, Mr Munir said that a storage van in a car park adjacent to his shop was also 'broken into' by the drunken youths who he believes 'get together for a few hours, cause trouble and then disappear'.
On another occasion, the shopkeeper also alleged that the older brother of one of the young teenagers 'got up in his face' and asked him for a £20,000 ransom to end the ongoing violence.
Mr Munir, who said he has 'never experienced anything like this before', estimates that it should cost an eye-watering £10,000 to £12,000 to repair the extent of damage caused, with the shopkeeper currently in the process of looking into installing shutters on the inside of his windows for 'extra protection'.
Having contacted the police an estimated 15 times within the last week alone, he added: 'It got to a climax point with it all happening but we are getting there now. A lot of my staff were left very shaken up, shocked and appalled. They are not used to this sort of violence.
'I've had trouble before, but nothing like this. I've never experienced it so many days in a row.'
Police Scotland have confirmed that they have arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy in connection with vandalism at Ruggie Boozers, with a spokesperson for the force stating: 'We have received several reports of vandalism at a premises in Main Street, Rutherglen in May 2025.
'A 15-year-old male youth has been arrested and charged in connection.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Woman is charged with murder after Polish mother's body was found buried in garden 15 years after she vanished
A woman has been charged after the body of Polish mother, Izabela Zablocka, was uncovered by police 15 years after she vanished. Anna Podedworna, 39, has been charged with murder, preventing a lawful and decent burial and perverting the course of justice. It comes after the body of Izabela Zablocka, 30, was found in a garden in Derby on June 1 of this year, having been missing for over a decade. Izabela, who moved to Britain in 2009, lived on Princes Street and worked at the former Cranberry Foods Turkey and Chicken Factory in nearby Scropton. She last made contact with her family in Poland on August 28, 2010 and despite their efforts to trace her, she was never found. Samanatha Shallow, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor in the East Midlands, said: 'Following a review of the evidence provided by Derbyshire Constabulary, we have authorised criminal charges in relation to the death of Izabela Zablocka 'Ms Zablocka went missing in August 2010, when she was aged 30. Her body was recovered in Derby on 1 June 2025. 'Anna Podedworna, 39, from Derby, has been charged with her murder. She has also been charged with preventing a lawful and decent burial and perverting the course of justice. 'She will appear at Derby Magistrates' Court on Friday, 6 June 2025. 'Our thoughts remain with the family of Ms Zablocka at this time. 'The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that she has the right to a fair trial. 'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'


The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Wagner Group UK proxy instructed to use Cold War drama as a ‘manual'
A proxy for the terrorist Wagner Group was instructed to use a Cold War drama about KGB spies in the United States as a 'manual' for his mission in the UK, a court has heard. Dylan Earl, 20, has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on an east London warehouse, and plotting to burn down Mayfair businesses and kidnap their Russian dissident owner last year. On Thursday, jurors at the Old Bailey saw chat between Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and a Wagner Group contact identified by the handle Privet Bot on Telegram. The day before the arson attack, Privet Bot instructed Earl to watch the television series The Americans, about KGB agents undercover in the US, 'in order to understand work'. Privet Bot went on: 'The idea is like that. You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe and think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support… 'Watch this series. It will be your manual. You'll have a source of funding through organising arsons.' The court has heard how Earl allegedly roped in Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, south London, to help recruit people to carry out the arson attack on the warehouse. Earl also revealed his plans to Ashton Evans 20, from Newport, Gwent, on Signal, Snapchat and mobile phone messages, it is alleged. They had initially communicated about drug dealing, with Earl adopting the name of a notorious Russian 'hitman', the court was told. Evans was allegedly aware that Earl had orchestrated the warehouse arson attack. Three days after the fire, which caused £1 million of damage, Evans asked: 'Did you light it up?' the court was told. They went on to discuss the plot to burn down Hide restaurant and Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair, snatch the owner and hand him over to Russia. Earl warned there would be a 'good amount of heat after this' and it would be 'on every news channel and radio in our country'. Evans allegedly replied: 'Yes, I can sort if there is a way we can do so without people getting hurt cause that's when the police will take very very serious – like t***or (terror) level serious.' Stressing the need for security, Earl told him: 'It will be a huge thing and every single spy agency trying to find who did it so careful ok.' Evans agreed that it would 'bring a lot of attention MI5 etc', the court heard. On April 1 2024, Earl asked Evans to delete their chats and asked if he could make connections with the IRA or the Irish Kinahan crime family. Earl suggested he wanted to 'build a link' between the Kinahans and Russia, saying: 'We have direct connection to the Kremlin, we can do suin (something) big.' After his arrest, Evans claimed he did not take the chat seriously, having jokingly told Earl: 'And this is all in mine craft, right?' He also claimed in a police interview that he was just stringing Earl along to get a refund for £300 of fake cocaine he had bought, the court was told. Earl and Reeves have pleaded guilty to aggravated arson of the east London warehouse and an offence under the National Security Act. The court was told that Reeves had revealed details of their plans to another contact, Dmirjus Paulauskas, having described Earl as 'Russian mafia'. On the kidnap plot, Reeves allegedly told Paulauskas that the idea was to 'get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment'. Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, allegedly responded to Wagner Group activity on UK soil with glee, saying: 'I'm so f****** gassed cos that means the west has already have already u r allowed to call urself Russian now (sic).' The defendant, who was later to claim that he took none of it seriously, allegedly responded to the warehouse attack by saying: 'Holy f*** so Wagner literally has UK gangs doing their work..' Shortly before their arrests, the men pondered why Earl – 'the Russian guy' – had not been on Snapchat for five days. Paulaskas suggested he was busy in his job 'sabotaging UK'. Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told jurors that by then Earl had been in custody for nine days. He said: 'The position is clear: Reeves told Mr Paulauskas about the plan to kidnap the target, who had sent money to Ukraine and who was to be sent back to Russia, and about the fact that the attack on the east London warehouse.' Mr Penny added that the realisation there was foreign interference by the Wagner group on British soil through the use of 'UK criminals as proxies', seemed to have been a matter of 'quite some pleasure' to Paulauskas. Evans and Paulauskas have each denied two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny. Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, Ugnius Asmena, 20, of no fixed address, Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Paul English, 61, of Roehampton, south-west London, have denied aggravated arson relating to the warehouse fire. The Old Bailey trial continues.


The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Army private who carried out ‘harrowing' rape of stranger jailed for nine years
An Army soldier who raped a stranger in a doorway in the early hours and then hid in a railway station toilet cubicle, has been jailed for nine years. Private John Harvey made a full confession to police after accosting and attacking the young woman as she walked through Shrewsbury town centre. But he then pleaded not guilty and forced her to 'relive the worst moment of my life' by giving evidence at a nine-day trial. Harvey, of Clive Barracks in Tern Hill, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of assault by penetration at Shrewsbury Crown Court in February. Harvey, 25, appeared relaxed in a video-link from HMP Hewell at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Thursday, as Judge Richard McConaghy told him the offence was aggravated by the fact he was drunk and the 'vulnerable' woman was walking alone at night. The judge told Harvey: 'She walked away and rang 999, audio of that call in the state that she was in is harrowing to listen to.' The court heard Harvey, who had missed his last train, went back towards the woman after the sexual assaults, but was 'put off' as she was on the phone to police, and went instead to Shrewsbury railway station. Video released by West Mercia Police after Harvey was jailed showed him being arrested by officers at the station at 6.32am in July last year. The video clip shows officers ordering Harvey to open the cubicle and then handcuffing him before he provided his name. Harvey, who was also ordered to serve an extended three-year period on licence after his eventual release, was said by the judge to be an 'educated man with a degree' and to have had a 'respectable career' at the time of the attack. In a victim impact statement to the court read by counsel, the woman, who cannot be identified, said her 20-minute ordeal had left her with post-traumatic disorder. The woman said: 'My home has become the only place I feel calm. The offender has convinced me terrible people who can do terrible things are everywhere.' 'I was forced to endure rape. The offender also forced me to fight my corner in a trial. I was forced by him to relive the worst moment of my life repeatedly. 'This event from the beginning to the end is the worst and hardest thing I have ever had to endure.' During his sentencing remarks, the judge told Harvey, who is now working as a prison cleaner and training as a mentor: 'You co-operated on arrest and made full admissions to having raped her. 'You however chose to throw that mitigation away by contesting the trial in the face of very strong evidence and made her give evidence despite your own confession of what you had done.' After the sentencing, Detective Constable Sam Jones said: 'I am extremely pleased with the sentence that has been given to Harvey by the judge today, as he is a danger to the wider public, in particular, women. 'In July last year Harvey committed a purely evil crime, and despite admitting to the offences during a police interview when he was arrested, he then changed his story at court, subjecting his victim and her loved ones to sit through a trial and relive that awful night. 'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victim for her bravery and resilience throughout the entire investigation and trial.' No details of Harvey's military service or his employment by the Army were disclosed at his sentencing hearing. Clive Barracks is the long-term home of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment. In a statement which did not confirm details of Harvey's unit, an Army spokesperson said: 'We can confirm that Private John Harvey appeared for sentencing at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on June 5 2025, convicted of a sexual offence. He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment.'