‘Horrible issues occurring’ at historic woods in UK metropolis after intercourse assault and burnt hedgehog

‘It’s my sanctuary”, says one. But many women don’t like going there anymore. Plymouth’s ancient Ham Woods is a tranquil place to wander in – but some say they’re scared to walk there alone. The quiet woodland is thriving with nature.

But some say it’s become a place of “thuggish behaviour” of late. And it’s been in the headlines in recent months for all the wrong reasons, the Plymouth Herald reports.

In June, a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in the woods – and Devon and Cornwall Police say there is an ongoing investigation in relation to the circumstances.

The previous summer, a hedgehog was found in the vicinity with “injuries consistent with being set alight”, leading to a police investigation.

More recently, at the start of October there were claims on Facebook of attacks on women in the Ham Woods area – with one in response saying they would ‘never’ visit again and ended up running home as they didn’t feel safe.

One local woman has not visited for months, saying: “I feel unsafe going down there alone with my toddler”.

Another woman who jogs in the woodland said she avoids some areas. She didn’t want to be named, but said: “There’s lots of weird men around walking on their own and I don’t let my teenage girl come down here alone.”

Housing estates have sprung up in the area over the decades on what was once farmland, but the ancient Ham Woods was preserved during development.

As well as some women fearing solo walking there, others mentioned “out of control dogs” also being an issue.

“I used to use Ham Woods as a dog walking spot at all times of day or night,” said Kevin Jenkins. “I’ve used it less since multiple reports have appeared online of uncontrolled dogs and bad behaviour from people.”

Alistair Maunder described Ham Woods as “bigger than you’d think” with “hundreds of parakeets”, but it’s “scary at night as you can’t see anything”. He said he’d like to see the local schools safely utilising the nature reserve more.

A Reform councillor for the ward, Ben Rowe, said: “thuggish behaviour shouldn’t be happening” and that Ham Wood needs more people visiting regularly, not avoiding the beauty spot.

Ben, who grew up in the area, added: “It’s a beautiful area, but not when neglected. There have been reports of incidents and when there are less people coming to places like this, the people that you don’t want coming to places like this are more likely to propagate in these areas.

“There are some seating areas, but it would be nice to have a picnic table in the lower end and the state of the paths could be improved. If we could get a PCSO here regularly, they do visit the woodland as part of their beat but not as frequent as it could be.”

‘There have been horrible things going on….it’s a society thing’

Full Moon Tattoo studio is located on Ham Green and on Friday, October 2, the tattooists were busy inking clients. Talking about the surrounding wooded area, the general discussion was that “men feel safer than women” walking there, but this “reflects society generally”.

Reg Williams, 44, grew up in the area and he thinks it was “worse in the 1980s and 1990s”.

He said: “There have been horrible things going on but it’s not specific to Ham Woods at all, it’s a society thing. I’d imagine for women it’s safer than it was (in the 1980s or 1990s), but it’s a sad state of affairs that many women still don’t feel safe in this day and age.”

Reg added: “There’s lots of good things happening, people tend to focus on the bad, there’s a great sense of community in this area and that’s why generations of families stay around and continue to live here. There’s been a lot of regeneration here, it was more deprived years ago.

Also living on the Ham Green side is long-term resident Peter Bishop, 70. Peter has lived in the neighbourhood all of his life – and his grandmother used to live just up the road from where he resides now.

He explained why he loves the area: “I’ve never had any issues living here or in the woods, and I see foxes, hedgehogs, lots of wildlife regularly. All of this housing used to be farmland, but when the area was developed the woodland was kept. There used to be a pub, the Lion and Column, years ago. It’s a good community.”

On the other side of the woods in Lower Ham, resident Colin Benwell explained how he, along with other locals Terry Richards, Rafal Kielkowski and Claire Pidsley cleaned up an old wall that was “covered in graffiti” via Plymouth Artists Together along with funding from the council.

But a local woman in Lower Ham said she won’t visit the woods anymore due to “dogs out of control” and being scared after “what happened to the young girl”.

However, Kate Maguire said: “I feel perfectly safe walking at any time of the day, early evening. I visit minimum of five days a week with my dog and I love Ham Woods, it’s my sanctuary.”

Rachel Lock said: “I spend a lot of time and hours walking around Ham Woods at all different times from early hours to late evenings and have done for many years and can say I feel quite safe there, lucky to have this on our doorstep.”

What the police told us

A spokesperson from Devon and Cornwall Police gave this statement regarding anti-social behaviour in Ham Woods:

“We know that anti-social behaviour (ASB), nuisance crime and feeling can have a big impact, which is why we listen to what residents are concerned about and work with local councils and community groups to solve problems early and locally.

“We take every report of ASB seriously and ask that repeated patterns of ASB be reported to us via our online reporting system – as the information helps us to take action. But always dial 999 in an emergency.

“Working together we can stop ASB before it escalates or leads to more serious offending and we can make our public spaces safer for everyone.

“Where warnings and prevention doesn’t work, we will take robust action. Serious and repetitive ASB will not be tolerated.

“We want people to feel safe in their community, so if anyone sees ASB taking place please report it to the relevant organisation so that action can be taken.

“Our goal is to create neighbourhoods where everyone feels safe and respected.”

Police added that there is an “ongoing investigation in relation to the incident” in June 2026.