The owner of a popular Tyneside deli says she has received a number of threats following a suspected arson attack on the company's food van.
Sam Bruford, who heads up the family-run La Cucina Lounge.Deli, was left devastated when her food van was set alight while it was parked outside Catering Units, on the Team Valley Trading Estate, in Gateshead, in the early hours of Friday, March 31. It was suspected that the van was maliciously set alight after someone poured petrol onto the vehicle.
Sadly, most of the van was destroyed by the fire and inquiries into the incident are ongoing and no arrests have been made. But in the days following the blaze, Sam, who has an 11-year-old daughter, says she has been receiving threating calls from those she believes were involved.
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Sam told ChronicleLive that after news of the van fire was posted on social media, people began "identifying" those who were suspected of being involved. After names were put forward, it wasn't long before she began to receive threats.
"We've recently had threats to our home, threats to our cars, the business and personal property", Sam said, "it's just disgusting. It's horrible, we were victims of an attack, that was bad enough.
"These people who have done it, are laughing at us now. A lot of people are getting involved, a lot of rumours are flying. It's getting really bad to the point where we're thinking, 'is anything going to happen here?'"
Fortunately, no-one was injured in the fire, but the van was destroyed. The incident enraged the deli's customers and the local community and a Just Giving page was even set up to help raise money for the business.
Sam added: "It's really getting out of hand. I've got a daughter and we're getting threats, colleagues are scared to work. We take orders over the phone and these people are ringing up saying what they're going to do. It's quite scary."
Inquiries into the suspected arson attack and the threats are ongoing. A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “On Thursday, April 13, we received a report that threats of criminal damage had been made to a person in Gateshead.
“Officers are investigating the report and enquiries are ongoing.”
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