The attacks have occurred in multiple locations including Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Reading, Huddersfield, and London, with incidents reported on Maygrove Road, Iverson Road, and Lowfield Road in the NW6 postcode, according to reports. Experts have suggested the attacks could be linked to gang-related conflicts, particularly involving Chinese Triad gangs. Red paint is routinely used by Triad gangs in southern parts of China and Hong Kong to symbolize anger and impulsion, intimidate rival gangs, or threaten debtors, experts say. The Metropolitan Police are investigating whether Chinese criminals could be behind the vandalism.
In the most recent attack, residents of Lowfield Road in Kilburn, north-west London, awoke earlier this week to find their homes covered in paint, with some describing it as looking like a 'murder scene'. Seven properties were covered by splashes of paint, with the word 'brothel' daubed in red across the front of one basement flat. The incident is expected to cost thousands of pounds to clean up, and the prime target was that basement flat. A neighbor described suspicious activity at the flat before the attack and people fleeing afterward.
Some of the homes smeared with paint could be used as bases for criminal activity, such as housing sex workers, with local gangs vying to drive rival groups off their turf, according to experts. It remains unclear who exactly is responsible for the paint attacks across Britain or whether they are definitively linked to Chinese Triad gangs or other criminal groups. The specific motive behind targeting the basement flat in Lowfield Road has not been established, and the current status of the Metropolitan Police investigation and any suspects identified is unknown.