A DARLINGTON man is offering up a reward after his "pride and joy" Porsche was left with thousands of pounds worth of damage in an act of vandalism. 

Rich Newton, who has been left with a repair bill of £2,000, has been left “absolutely devastated” after his car was left with deep scratches at his home in West Park.

He has since promised to offer a cash reward to bring those responsible to justice in a bid to prevent further damage to his, and other cars in the area.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, Mr Newton said the damage to his car, bought for his 40th birthday present, had come just months after moving to the town.

The Northern Echo:

He said: “It’s just truly awful, I’ve had the car for the past two-and-half-years from new, it was a present to myself and thought 'why not'.”

Mr Newton had only moved from Northumberland in September last year after a friend recommended West Park as an ideal place to live.

Discovering the damage after returning to his car at around 11pm on Thursday, he said no other cars had been damaged in the alleged incident.  

He said: “I just noticed it. It’s gone down through into the last layer of the paint and it will need a respray – it will cost more than £2,000 in damages.”

Mr Newton, who attributed the damage to an act of jealousy, said the incident was the first act of vandalism during his time owning the vehicle.

The Northern Echo:

He said: “I don’t understand some people, why can’t they be hard working and thoughtful, rather than being jealous.”

An appeal for information on social media has so far attracted hundreds of comments with many showing their support for Mr Newton, condemning the actions.

He said: “I do have to say I have been blown away by the support on social media, it restores a bit of my faith in humanity.”

Explaining that he is offering a cash reward to those who provide information that leads to an arrest, he said he hoped this would act as a deterrent in the future.

He said: “I’m doing to encourage people to step forward and give information, I think sometimes people feel some information is not significant or there are terrified something might happen to them, but there are ways to do it confidentially.

“I think if people can be encouraged to do that then it might prevent it from happening. I don’t mind, it's peace of mind that whoever did it has been and won’t do it again.”

A spokesperson for Durham Police confirmed it had received reports of damage to Mr Newton's Porsche on Friday morning.

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