Disabled Woman Left Terrified By Gang
12 June 2012, 15:09 | Updated: 12 June 2012, 17:16
A disabled woman says she's terrified to leave her own home after being targeted by a gang of teenagers in Bedford at the weekend.
At about 2.30pm-3pm on Saturday afternoon, Sandra was making her way home after leaving a rose on her late husband's grave, when she was approached by the gang on Goldington Road between Goldington Green and Polhill Avenue.
One of the group held her shoulders while another grabbed the powered controls of her wheelchair and a third tampered with the arm of the wheelchair. They surrounded her and threw verbal abuse at her over her disability which phrases like "You don't belong in this world" and "why were you born?" They then took turns in spitting at her.
The 60 year old only managed to get away when a passerby saw her and shouted at the gang. She was so desperate to escape that when she tried to get away she bumped down the kerb and was nearly hit by a car.
Here Sandra's terrifying ordeal in her own words...
All the youths were about 16-19 years old; the one who grabbed the steering control of her wheelchair is white, wearing beige trainers and multi-coloured stripey socks. The other two main offenders were Asian.
“I find it difficult to understand what kind of pathetic cowards would dream of stopping this woman in the street, say the most appalling things to her and then spit all over her,” said PC Sara Ielden, of the Local Policing Team. “The woman said the attack went on for about 10 minutes but to her it felt like hours.”
“The area must have been really busy at the time, as it’s one of the main roads into town and I’m sure that there are people who would have seen the woman as she travelled in her wheelchair, or might have seen some part of what happened,” said PC Ielden.
“In particular, I’d really like to trace both the Good Samaritans who intervened to help her – I’m sure that both the passer-by who shouted and the driver who had to avoid her as she crossed into the road will remember such a nasty incident,” she said.