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A woman has appeared in court charged with criminal damage after graffiti was sprayed on a New Brighton hardware store in September.
As reported by the Wirral Globe, Rachel Naomi Waltemeye, 33, of no fixed abode, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on October 9, charged with causing criminal damage to Rightway on Victoria Road.
She entered no plea during the hearing and is due to return to Liverpool Magistrates' Court for a plea hearing on November 27.
Police received reports that pink and blue paint had been sprayed across the Victoria Road store on September 26. The graffiti included the words "FLYING DUTCHMAN SHOP LOCAL".
David Clarke, who manages the store, told the Globe that his staff were in tears over the vandalism.
Waltemeye was arrested on October 8 after an unrelated callout to a recently-closed bar on the New Brighton street.
At the time, people thought that the graffiti was linked to fellow hardware store Flying Dutchman, located on the nearby Seabank Road. However, Flying Dutchman released a statement denying involvement in the vandalism attack.
At the time, the hardware store said: "We're upset to see the damage caused by graffiti at Rightway. No local business should have to deal with this. The Flying Dutchman Stores had absolutely nothing to do with it. Suggestions linking us to the damage are untrue, and we condemn what happened."
"Rightway is a fellow local business. We hope the damage can be put right quickly, and we ask people to support them and all the independent shops that make New Brighton what it is. If anyone has information about what happened, please pass it to the police rather than spread speculation online."
Mr Clarke also said he didn't think that Flying Dutchman was involved with the attack.
