An Edinburgh woman has had her front door kicked off its rail by youths in a new “door kicking” TikTok trend.
The Parkhead resident was startled at 5.35pm on July 7 when she heard a banging sound and spotted a young boy aged around nine or 10 running away from her home. She took a picture of the damaged door with foot prints on the paintwork.
Walking to her gate, the resident - who wishes to remain anonymous- saw a group of kids at the end of her street who later came back and hung around opposite her flat.
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The trend involves kicking a person’s door and then running away and has become popular on the social media site, with more than 5.8 million views on “door kicking challenge” videos on TikTok.
The resident told how her home has been targeted previously. Weeks ago, she opened her door to see similar footprints on it. But she says the damage was worse in the more recent raid. While the woman was left only shaken in the incident, she is worried elderly or vulnerable people could be left traumatised.
She said: “It was so loud so I went to the door. It was kicked off its track and a crack of light came through the door. At first I couldn't open my door and I saw a wee boy wearing all blue with a shoulder bag running away.
“Well I was shocked, it is scary but now I feel on edge, is something else going to happen? Because my home has been targeted.
“There's no reason they would do this other than for a trend and they’ve probably put it on TikTok but maybe they’re just copying it but it does make me feel a wee bit on edge. And the fact that the kid is out there hours later on the other side of the road makes you think that kids got some brass neck.
“And they were partially successful, the door came off the track and if I have a broken door how am I supposed to get through the night safely with a broken door? Who do I call?
“They are damaging property, they’re scaring people but it’s like potentially creating a situation where someone could come into my house with more sinister intentions."
The resident said she reported the latest incident to police. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Officers were called around 5.40pm on Thursday 7 July 2022 to a report of a door being kicked. Enquiries are ongoing."
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