Outrage as play area in Keyham is set ablaze

PARK WAS VENUE OF VIGIL FOR 2021 VICTIMS

- CARL EVE

OUTRAGED locals have been left appalled after arsonists targeted a children's play area in a Keyham park which has been a gathering point for the community following the 2021 shootings.

North Down Park, which is bordered by North Down Crescent and Royal Navy Avenue, was a focal point immediately after the horrific shooting on the afternoon of August 12, 2021, with three air ambulances landing on the field and paramedics racing to and from the location to try and treat those targeted by gunman Jake Davison in Biddick Drive and Henderson Place.

The park later became host to a moving candlelit vigil, and hundreds of flowers were placed in tribute to those who had died. The park was also visited in 2021 by the then Home Secretary Priti Patel, who laid flowers, as well as the city's MPs, shadow ministers and senior police officers, including the then Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable, Shaun Sawyer.

A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they were called at 1.30am on Friday by a member of the public who spotted the blaze in the children's play park.