You wouldn’t expect to hear it in 2025 – catapults causing chaos across Kent. Yet that’s exactly what police are dealing with. Otherwise known as a slingshot, what used to be a playground toy has now turned into a street-level weapon, turning up in alleyways, parks, and even town centres. Kent Police say the numbers are climbing fast, and they’re throwing extra officers at the problem before someone gets seriously injured.
A county-wide crackdown
Over the summer, Kent Police began what they bluntly call a “catapult crackdown”. The idea grew out of a run of incidents – stones and ball bearings smashing windows (one of my friend’s elderly clients had her lounge window cracked by a couple of teenagers, it left her very shaken), injuring birds, and frightening passers-by.
Sergeant Darren Wilshaw said, “It’s generally groups of youths with catapults just targeting anything to kill and they’re sharing those pictures and videos of themselves doing this on social media”. The force says it’s now fielding about 14 calls a day about catapults and slingshots.
PCSOs have been walking the hotspots: Sittingbourne, Sheerness, Ashford, and Tunbridge Wells. Two boys were stopped near the Royal Victoria Shopping Centre in Tunbridge Wells, their weapons bagged and seized, after targeting birds in the area. For another group in Maidstone, enquiries are ongoing regarding a man hit in the face by a catapult, reportedly after confronting them collecting stones on his property.
“It’s easy to forget these things can kill small animals”, one local warden said. “Or break a car window. Or hit a child”.
From nuisance to real danger
At first glance, a catapult seems like harmless fun – a throwback to old adventure comics. But the science tells a different story.
A University of Kent team testing ball bearings on lab materials for a BBC programme, found that the impacts could shatter bone and pierce skin. Lead researcher, Dr Chris Shepherd, called the results ‘eye-opening’, adding that a direct hit “could easily be fatal at close range”.
The RSPCA has been warning about the same problem for years. Staff say cats, pigeons, and even swans are arriving with shattered limbs and embedded pellets. Videos circulating on social media show youths filming the cruelty for clicks – a disturbing twist on old-fashioned vandalism.
The frustrating gap in the law
Oddly enough, owning a catapult isn’t illegal in Britain. What is illegal is how you use it. If it’s carried or fired with intent to hurt someone, damage property, or kill wildlife, that’s when police can act under offensive weapons or criminal damage laws. But proving intent is tricky unless someone’s caught in the act.
That legal gap frustrates officers. By the time they get there, the teens have either dropped the catapult or hidden it. Several police leaders, including Surrey’s Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Ellie Vesey-Thompson, have urged the Home Office to review the rules.
So far, ministers insist the current laws are enough – though few frontline officers would agree.
Kent communities losing patience
Residents across the county say that the problem isn’t just numbers – it’s nerve.
In Swale, police seized two catapults on Broadway in Sheerness, and another in Sittingbourne High Street, in late July. The issue of catapult sales has also been raised in Swale’s council meetings as part of wider discussions on antisocial behaviour.”
The same pattern appears in Ashford, Sevenoaks, and Canterbury. Groups of teens gather in parks or car parks, often after dark, testing how far they can shoot. “I’ve found steel bearings in my garden,” said a friend of mine. “It’s not what you expect in a quiet street.”
Police say catapult incidents now sit alongside vandalism. Most occur in warmer months, when evenings are longer, and supervision is thinner.
The response of Kent police and councils
To stem the rise, Kent Police formed a Catapult Tasking Group – part enforcement, part education. Officers have been visiting schools, handing out leaflets, and explaining that a catapult used to cause harm is classed as a weapon.
Letters have gone to headteachers county-wide, warning parents that being caught with one could mean arrest or suspension.
Councils are also exploring Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) – local bylaws that can ban carrying catapults in certain public places. Such orders already exist elsewhere for knives and air guns, and trials are being discussed for Kent towns.
Retailers are another focus. Some shops have agreed to stop selling catapults to under-18s, others have quietly pulled them from display. Police say they’d rather work with stores than fine them, but warn that tolerance is wearing thin.
Education, not just punishment
Many in Kent, including myself, think enforcement is only half the answer. Youth workers argue that boredom, not malice, drives most of the behaviour. If young people have nothing to do, they’ll make their own entertainment – sometimes the wrong kind.
Projects like the Gaming Bus, funded through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s grant, now tour parts of Swale, Sheppey and Maidstone. It parks up on estates and lets kids play video games or music instead of roaming the streets. It’s modest, but effective: Kevin McKenna, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey said, “these initiatives are about prevention, visibility and meaningful community engagement and I’ll continue to support efforts to make our town safer for everyone.”
Teachers have also been asked to include catapult awareness into PSHE lessons, using real-life stories of injuries and prosecutions. The goal isn’t to scare them – it’s to get them to think twice.
The bigger picture behind the behaviour
It’s easy to blame a generation for bad behaviour, but the truth is many young people now have far fewer places to go.
Since 2011, funding for youth services in England has fallen by more than 70%, dropping from just over £1bn to about £400mn a decade later. Thousands of youth clubs have shut down or scaled back, and more than 1,500 youth workers have left their local roles.
In Kent, the picture is similar; KCC have decided to cut £900,000 from youth-service contracts in November 2023 ending subsidies to many externally run youth clubs. Some centres have either closed or have been merged into broader “family hubs”. When safe, supervised spaces close, teenagers don’t vanish – they gather where they can. For many, that means the park, the high street or an empty estate. What appears to be antisocial behaviour is often just the absence of anywhere else to be.
A quick online search turns up high-powered slingshots for under £20, complete with steel ball bearings and targeting lasers. Unlike air guns, there’s no licence or safety requirement.
Wildlife charities say the fallout is ecological, as well as moral. After a gull was killed in Northfleet near Gravesend, Geoff Edmund, RSPCA wildlife officer, said, “We are really concerned to hear about incidents like this, and it’s particularly concerning to hear suggestions this attack may have been undertaken by younger people. It’s unspeakably cruel and totally unacceptable to shoot animals for fun like this.”
What can be done next ?
Experts and campaigners are calling for a layered approach – tougher laws, smarter education, and more youth investment.
- Update the law – Class catapults as offensive weapons; restrict sales to over 18s.
- Hold retailers to account – Age-check buyers; remove catapults from shelves.
- Use PSPOs locally – Ban carrying catapults in parks, town centres and housing estates.
- Work with schools – Include catapult misuse in PHSE and assemblies.
- Expand youth options – Sports, creative hubs, volunteering; keep young people busy, supported, and visible.
- Report and record – Residents should note times, places and – if safe – photos and footage.
- Be transparent – Publish quarterly updates on incidents and prosecutions to maintain trust.
A shared responsibility
Kent’s ‘catapult crime’ might sound like something from an old comic strip, but the damage is very real. It crosses generations, towns and even species. Police, councils, and communities are finally treating it as more than a prank – and say the next few months will be crucial.
If catapults are finding their way into young hands, it’s up to all of us to make sure that they don’t become weapons.
