RESIDENTS have been distressed by offensive graffiti daubed on a block of flats in Ruchill. 

The graffiti, believed to have been left by vigilante paedophile hunters, refers to a sex offender who was convicted of raping young girls and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2006 who used to live in Bilsland Drive.

The graffiti read “[name] is copping it” and other tags referred to him as a “beast” and a “pedo”.

Glasgow Times:

Slurs were emblazoned on the front entry to the block of flats near to the Ruchill community garden. 

A resident of the building - who did not wish to be named - said that she did not want her children to play in the back court while the graffiti remained visible.

Maryhill Housing Association, which manages the block, has painted over the graffiti at the front of the building and inside the close but has as yet been unable to remove some of the most offensive language, including the tags referring to the man as “copping it” and calling him a “beast”.

The resident said: “I don’t want my children playing out there and looking at words like that.

Glasgow Times:

“It’s not nice at all to have to live with that. 

“He moved out years ago and never even lived in this close.”

She claimed that he had lived at 403 Bilsland Drive, not number 415 where the graffiti was sprayed.

She said that the housing association had sent out workers to cover over the graffiti at the front of the building and in the close but because of the pebble dash on the outside of the building, they had difficulty removing or obscuring it at the back of the building. 

Police are investigating the incident and are encouraging residents with concerns about antisocial behaviour in their neighbourhood to come forward. 

A spokesman said: “We received a report shortly after 11.40am on Sunday, November 15 relating to vandalism at a property on Bilsland Drive in the Ruchill area Glasgow.

Glasgow Times:

"Enquiries into the incident are ongoing and officers have been in contact with the local housing provider. Anyone with concerns about vandalism or anti-social behaviour in their area can contact police as promptly as possible by calling 101.”

It follows other vigilante incidents in the north of the city, where local activist Alex O’Kane, who runs the community group No1Seems2Care, says “tensions are running high”. 

But he discouraged people from taking matters into their own hands.

The Milton-based campaigner added: “I don’t want to see innocent people getting hurt or into trouble with the police. 

“To paint [the word] ‘paedo’ on the front of a block of tenements could place everyone in the tenements in danger.”

Maryhill Housing Association did not respond to a request for comment.