Racially Aggravated Vandalism Outside Local Shop Raises Claims Tensions are Simmering Once Again in Hartlepool...

The shop in Stockton Rd was reportedly targeted last week by vandals who daubed 'racist' graffiti on the shutters....

11th June 2025

An investigation is said to be underway following claims 'racist' and 'offensive graffiti' was daubed on the shutters of a shop in Hartlepool’s Stockton Road last week.

The family-run business is believed to have been deliberately targeted, in what some are describing as a racially aggravated incident.

Cllr Quewone Baily-Fleet

Councillor Quewone Baily-Fleet, Labour councillor for Rossmere Ward, issued a statement earlier this week on social media confirming the incident. The Labour ward councillor stated: “A family-owned business on Stockton Road was recently vandalised with offensive graffiti…”

In response, local Labour councillors coordinated a donation of paint materials, and, with assistance from the council’s Safer Communities team and the Community Payback initiative, the graffiti was swiftly cleaned off and the shutters repainted. The work was carried out by individuals currently on probation, in what has been described by Baily-Fleet as a “quiet but powerful act of restorative justice.”

Wider Tensions Boiling Beneath the Surface

Whilst local community leaders are said to be urging calm, it’s seemingly apparent that tensions in Hartlepool are rising again—just under a year since the riots of summer 2024 rocked the town. The latest incident has sparked concern amongst some locals, who fear that incidents of racially or culturally motivated crime and anti-social behaviour are beginning to escalate once more.

Recent unrest in Liverpool and Ballymena, Northern Ireland—triggered by the arrest of two Romanian nationals accused of sexual assault—has only added fuel to the fire. Though geographically distant, its claimed, the ripple effect of such events often drifts into towns like Hartlepool & Middlesbrough, where existing frustrations around immigration, policing, and economic inequality continue to go unaddressed by national and local leadership.

In private conversations, its claimed some locals have shared fears that the town is sleepwalking into another summer of disorder. Despite repeated appeals from community figures and authorities, many feel their concerns about crime, cohesion, and cultural division are being dismissed as politically inconvenient, or worse, branding those who speak out as 'racist' !

While councillors were said to be painting over the surface damage caused by the latest incident, the deeper issue remains unresolved. What happened on Stockton Road may not be an isolated incident—it may be yet another flashpoint in a town that has long been crying out to be heard.

Until meaningful engagement and action are taken—beyond glossy PR statements and paintbrush gestures—the fear remains that Hartlepool could once again find itself making national headlines for all the wrong reasons.