The principle of doing unto others as you would have done unto you is one that's hard to argue with.

If having your car smashed up in front of your home is something you would not care to see, then why on earth would you wish to do the same to someone else's car?

If having a pile of old fridges, carpets, broken fencing and bags of rubbish dumped on your doorstep does not appeal to you, then how could you possibly contemplate the idea that another person might seriously relish the prospect?

It is hard to fathom the mentality of those who take enjoyment in heaping piles of rubbish - both physically and metaphorically - seemingly at random, on people they don't know. Harder still is understanding what possible motive they could have?

In the case of the gang of youths who rammed at least one car before attacking it with a hammer outside an innocent family's home, it is difficult to suggest anything other than pure, mindless thuggery, possibly generated by jealousy at the fact that someone simply had a nicer car than them.

Not far away across Bradford, the disgusting fly-tipping in a residential area could have been carried out through spite, perhaps? Or was it laziness, because the nearest Council waste site was another five minutes away? Or was it someone clearing a house who wanted to avoid a commercial fee?

Whatever lay behind these appalling acts, it is clear that the last thing on the minds of the perpetrators was the impact on their unseen and unknown victims. Man's capacity for vilely and thoughtlessly damaging the lives of others never ceases to amaze.