Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Elderly woman cuts down flashing Christmas lights after sneaking into family's garden in middle of night

Dad-of-two Dan Hubbert says he doesn't know whether to report her to the police

Chiara Giordano
Wednesday 12 December 2018 12:41 GMT
Comments
Old' woman caught cutting down flashing Christmas lights in middle of the night

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An elderly woman has been caught sabotaging a family's Christmas lights in the middle of the night.

Armed with a pair of scissors and under the cover of darkness the “Scrooge” was caught on CCTV as she shuffled up to a tree and cut the wires to stop the flashing lights. After looking around to check she had not been spotted, she made her escape.

Dan Hubbert, 41, shared the footage of the incident at his home in Cottingham, near Hull, on Facebook.

Alongside he asked whether he should call the police or turn a blind eye to the incident.

“So it turns out some old gal doesn't like my Christmas lights,” he said. “What should I do? Ring the old bill or let her go free?”

Later he added: “All she needed to do was pop round and ask me to turn them off during the night."

Some friends said she should pay for the lights and encouraged Mr Hubbert to report her to the police.

One person called the woman a “Scrooge” and another joked Mr Hubbert should send a class of children singing Christmas songs round to her home.

The dad of two told Hull Live he would have immediately called the police if he’d discovered youths were to blame for the damage.

But instead he’s been left torn over what to do.

CCTV footage captured a woman entering Dan Hubbert's garden in Cottingham, near Hull, on Sunday, 9 December, 2018, and cutting his family's Christmas lights.
CCTV footage captured a woman entering Dan Hubbert's garden in Cottingham, near Hull, on Sunday, 9 December, 2018, and cutting his family's Christmas lights. (Dan Hubbert/Facebook)

“Everyone wants me to ring the police on her,” he said. “She should pay for them. If it was youths I would’ve been straight on the blower to the police but she’s old. You can’t start going across the road and chopping down lights.”

While Mr Hubbert said he was thinking about contacting the police to ask them to speak to the woman, he admitted he and his children saw the funny side of the incident.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in