A pregnant woman says she is scared to return home as she claims a fellow resident physically attacked her. Zoe McBride says she was admitted to hospital after the violent incident on April 7, during which she claims the resident pulled her hair and banged her head against the wall several times in the communal area of the building where she lives in South Gloucestershire.
Ms McBride, who is 28 weeks pregnant, said she has been complaining about ongoing anti-social behaviour in the building owned by Bromford housing association since January. She says she requested a management transfer ‘multiple times’ and contacted South Gloucestershire Council but that she has not been offered any suitable alternative accommodation.
The mother-to-be said she was discharged from Southmead Hospital on April 12, and has since been temporarily staying with a friend as she is scared to return to her flat. Avon & Somerset Police says it is investigating an allegation of assault but CCTV and house-to-house enquiries were 'negative', although enquiries are continuing.
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Ms McBride claims that she hears constant fighting and noise coming from another residents’ flat and these ongoing incidents have disturbed her sleep. She believes that her complaints over her safety to the council, Bromford and other agencies have been ignored, and despite being a 'vulnerable adult' with pre-existing conditions, she feels nothing has been put in place to ensure her safety.
After spending six days in the hospital, Ms McBride said she was relieved to learn that there was no damage done to the baby. Ms McBride claims that the resident attacked her in the communal area of the building when she was on her way out the house. She believes the attack may have been provoked by her complaints, which resulted in a Bromford employee visiting the building prior to the physical altercation.
The mother-to-be said police have attended the building on several occasions as a result of ongoing fighting, which she says she often hears coming from the residents' flat 'for hours on end during the night'.
Ms McBride said: “I don’t want to live somewhere that’s unsafe, I just want to live somewhere where I can sleep at night and I’m not going to be at risk in the communal areas. This has been going on for over half my pregnancy when it’s a time where you should just be able to rest.
“It’s taken a real toll on my mental health. Not being able to sleep is bad enough but when I know there’s been actual violence going on and then towards me recently, it’s just made things unbearable.
“I feel really let down by the housing and all of the systems which I assumed were there to protect people. It could have been prevented and I was really scared that I could have lost my baby.
“No-one should have to go through that but being disabled and being pregnant, I was terrified. He grabbed my hair and bashed my head against the wall around six times.
“I was trying to get away and I was shouting for my downstairs neighbour and she managed to get in between and I went outside and called the police. This has resulted in multiple head injuries to myself, cuts across my face, damage to my eye, severe bruising up and down my leg, back injuries made worse.”
A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said: “We have been in touch with Ms McBride to discuss the situation and we will continue to advise her on the support the council can offer in the circumstances.”
A spokesperson from Avon & Somerset Police said: “We were called at around 2.50pm on April 7, following a report of an altercation between two people. Officers met with the victim, a woman in her 20s, who made an allegation of assault and took her statement and provided her with support.
"Officers later spoke with a witness who reported seeing the latter part of the altercation. CCTV and house-to-house enquiries were carried out, which were negative. Enquiries are ongoing at this time and, together with the local authority, we are continuing to provide the victim with support.”
Bromford’s director of localities and customer contact Kevin Bennett said: “We are glad to hear that Miss McBride and her baby are well enough to return home following this distressing incident. We visited earlier this week to check her flat is secure and are now liaising with the police to investigate this incident.
"We’re able to support customers with additional security measures after incidents like this to ensure they feel secure in their homes and will be working with Miss McBride to understand her needs. We take all reports of anti-social behaviour seriously, but they do take time to fully investigate and resolve.
"Prior to this incident we had not received any reports that suggested Miss McBride was at risk of physical harm. The reports we’d received were about noise coming from neighbouring properties which we were in the process of investigating and will continue to do so alongside this latest incident.”
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