A mum has been left waking up 'shaking' in fear every morning after a group of thugs randomly attacked her disabled dad's house. Gillian Hope was at her 79-year-old father's house in Gathurst Lane, Shevington, when at around 10.15pm on December 22 they heard a knock at the door.
They ignored it due to the late hour but the knocking continued and became louder and louder, until it was "a constant banging". The pair then heard a smash after the men hurled a stone through their front room's window.
Gillian called the police but during this time her dad, Richard, had opened the front door where three men could be seen and heard shouting "pay the f***ing money back". Gillian locked the door and waited for police to arrive while the men sat in a white car outside the house.
Gillian assessed the damage afterward and found that many of their windows had been smashed or cracked. They believe the attack on their home was targeted but believe the perpetrators must have got the wrong home, and Gillian and Richard say they have been left petrified and anxious following the attack.
"I haven't slept since," Gillian told the MEN, "I'm absolutely exhausted. I can't cope at all.
"We don't feel safe anymore at all. I'm doing the best I can to carry on and support my dad but I'm just so exhausted after this.
"I've looked at some CCTV footage of the incident today and it's so scary. It's very busy around but these men are there doing this and shouting at us, it wasn't pleasant at all having to relive it.
"How do we ever move on from this, I don't feel safe on my own anymore. We've both been left feeling very vulnerable, my dad is crying all the time. We feel helpless."
Gillian added that they have received a lot of support from neighbours and others in the tightknit community where her dad lives. "My dad has lived there for 45 years, he's very well known and loved in the village, he's a local celebrity with the record breaking sunflowers he's grown on the house," she added.
"It's a lovely village, everyone knows each other, and we've never had any problems in the past. For something like this to happen is very frightening especially after the shooting last month, it has really shaken the village, it just doesn't happen in a place like this.
"We're just absolutely baffled by why they've done this. It's not as if they've been quiet about it either, all the neighbours were watching them do this.
"I am shaking when I wake up now, I have never had anxiety but I feel so worried all the time now. I'm frightened to leave the house to walk dogs on my own, which is my business, it's so sad."
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "At around 10:20pm on Thursday 22 December 2022, officers received reports of criminal damage of a property on Gathurst Lane, Shevington. Officers attended the scene and no injuries were reported. An investigation has since been launched to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident."
For more of today's top stories click here.
READ NEXT:
Greater Manchester patient faces 26-HOUR wait for 111 callback after being told 'don't phone 999'
'I thought I'd pulled a muscle lifting weights in the gym... it turned out to be an awful diagnosis'
Police pull over pink Ford Mustang going at 30mph on M6 - and find £250k jackpot inside
"Absolutely heartbreaking" - Support for families of engaged couple tragically killed in house fire
CCTV appeal after men steal catalytic converter from car then smash window
