Man (23) victim of ‘vendetta’ after under-age relationship

Aug 12 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A 23-YEAR-OLD man has had CCTV installed at his home because of a ‘vendetta’ against him over his involvement with an under-age girl.

Mark Bordon claims that he has had two cars written off in the past four months.

And graffiti has been daubed near his Blantyre home in a series of incidents that has him fearing for his safety.

Bordon also hit out at police over an alleged failure to protect him and his family.

The factory supervisor, who lives with his parents, told the Advertiser this week that his sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl had led to reprisals.

He also claimed that he was unaware of the girl’s age when he embarked on the affair.

Since the relationship ended, Bordon has been subjected to a series of incidents that have been reported to police, including:

l The setting alight of his Vauxhall Corsa car outside his home in April;

l Bordon claims that while driving another car, a Citroen C2, in Hamilton in June he was forced from the road and the car was written off.

l Graffiti was daubed at and around the Glenfruin Road area of Blantyre, naming him as a ‘paedo’;

l An alleged assault;

l And, in the latest incident last week: his car was vandalised by a gang of youths, one of whom was carrying a wheel brace, as he drove through Hillhouse.

Bordon claims a number of individuals from the Hamilton area are responsible for what he terms is a ‘vendetta’.

The police confirmed that a 22-year-old man had been arrested for a willful fire-raising in the early hours of April 8, during which Bordon’s car was destroyed.

Two teenage males, aged 17 and 18, were also facing breach of the peace and culpable and reckless conduct charges for a separate incident.

Bordon himself faces charges over alleged incidents stemming from the dispute, but as yet has not been arrested or charged over his relationship with the teenage girl.

The 23-year-old said this week: “It started with the arson attack on my car, then there has been a few fights with them as well, although nothing happened about that.

“The windows were smashed on my Citroen in Burnbank, then they used a brand-new Corsa to drive into me head-on later that month. This wrote my car off.

“They then began spraypainting my garage and my street, saying ‘Mark Bordon: Paedo’ and ‘dead man’.

“A group also smashed the windows on my Clio last week.”

Bordon states that when he began the relationship with the teenager, he did not know she was 15 but was alerted after her friend told him she had “lied” about her birthday.

He added: “I don’t see her anymore because of this.”

Bordon was also critical of the police’s handling of his case and claims that he requires more protection.

“Apart from the arson and my window being smashed, they haven’t actually done much else at all,” he said.

“They have actually accused me on a good six or seven occasions of making up stories and lying about incidents that didn’t happen.”

Police have said they are currently investigating two incidents of graffiti vandalism in Glenfruin Road last month.

A police spokesman said that between 11pm on July 6 and 12.15am on July 7, a garage in Glenfruin Road had been vandalised with spraypaint.

Also, between 11pm on July 12 and 6.30am on July 13, a similar incident occurred at the rear of the street.

Cops are also probing the attack in Clarkwell Road, Hillhouse, on August 2, during which Bordon’s car was vandalised as he was travelling in it.

The spokesman added that police were treating all these incidents with due concern, and enquiries were continuing.