A beloved family-owned fish and chip shop has been left in ruins for a third time after a senseless act of destruction in Daisy Hill.
Nothing was stolen.
Only shattered glass, wrecked cooking equipment, and a destroyed pet fish tank left behind.
The attack, which took place in the early hours of Monday morning, 24 February, saw every window of The Happy Fryer smashed and the store trashed.
The owners, Trevor and Helen Hayes, who have served the community for over four years, now face more than $20,000 in damages on top of lost income from having to shut down operations.
The senseless destruction is the worst the business has suffered, despite previous break-ins over the years.
This time, the damage appears to be nothing more than an act of vandalism, leaving a devastating financial and emotional toll on the owners.
“I was alerted in the early hours of Monday morning that the alarms were going off at the store, so I went down to check it out thinking it was probably just a false alarm,” Mr Hayes said.
“I got down there, I saw the damage and I rung Helen and the first words I said to her were ‘we’re bankrupt and we’re going to be homeless’.”
The couple who say they haven’t had a day off since opening the business have had the worst week of their life.
“This is more than just a business to us, this is our livelihood and our baby,” Mr Hayes said.
“We have worked really hard to get to where we are, after setbacks during COVID and numerous break ins. It’s hard.”
Police confirmed they are investigating eight break-ins or wilful damage incidents at a Wembley Road shopping centre that took place after the Happy Fryer vandalism on Monday, 24 February and are looking into whether the two incidents are linked.
A fundraiser was set up by local crisis counsellor Joe Horvat who saw the destruction of the business on a social media post and felt like he needed to help.
“I had never met Trevor or Helen before and I was asked why I would help someone I don’t know, and I thought well, why not?,” he said.
“I saw the damages and knew that something had to be done to help so I reached out to them.”
As a crisis counsellor Mr Horvat knows that while the adrenaline of getting the shop up and running will keep them going, there’s a risk of PTSD and trauma from the break in.
“Helen hasn’t slept for four nights in a row now and is probably in a crisis mindset at the moment,” he said.
“The support from the community is helping them and I can guarantee you if they didn’t have the support, that shop would probably have a for sale sing on it today.”
The Happy Fryer will re-open on Saturday afternoon and Mr Hayes said he has felt the full support of the community.
“We’ve had people come in off the street to see if we were alright and the love on social media has been great,” he said.
“I started losing hope in the community with all the bad stuff happening, but seeing the community come together and help us has been really humbling.”
