A young disabled woman is appealing to the public to help trace a thug who threatened her with a knife in Hamilton at the weekend.
Concerned for her safety, the 21-year-old wishes to remain anonymous but fears her attacker remains a dangerous threat in the community.
The woman was trying to find a parking space outside the Premier Store on Millgate Road on Saturday evening around 8pm when the man exited his car, stormed over and hurled abuse at her.
He then demanded she got out her car, telling that he was armed with a knife before threatening to smash her windows and drag her out by the throat.
The victim has been left badly shaken by the man who shouted at her and banged on her vehicle while she awaited her partner returning from the shops.
“I was coming in one side of the lay-by and the other guy was coming in the other side, and my partner had just jumped out of the car to go to the shop, so I was sitting in the car alone, trying to find a parking space", the victim explained.
“This boy came speeding out from behind, drove right up to my car really aggressively and jumped out. The second he came out I pressed the button to lock all the doors.
“He came over and told me to get out of the car or he’ll drag me out of the car. He tried to open my door and was really trying to rip it off.
“I was absolutely petrified. He was really big and burly.
“He was telling me to move my car back and he told me he had a knife in his car and that I was playing games with him. He was shouting and roaring saying ‘I’m going to smash your windows and drag you out by the throat. It was really scary."
People who witnessed the disturbance rushed over to the vehicle and the yob returned to his car and made off.
The woman added: "He had started shouting at my partner saying ‘make her move or I’m going to do damage to her. Don’t test me I’ve got a knife in the back’.
“He eventually sped off and everyone was asking if I was ok, and I phoned the police."
Determined to protect others in her community, the victim stressed it is important she speaks out. She also believes potential witnesses have been too scared to report details to police for fear of being a "grass".
"When the police came, nobody would talk to them and said they didn’t want to ‘grass’, she continued.
“What’s going through my head is what would happen if I hadn’t locked my doors.
“I was petrified. That man is dangerous and he’s just going to get away with it.
“I would not forgive myself if he went on and harmed somebody.
“There seems to be a horrible culture of ‘I’m not a grass’ and it’s leaving young women vulnerable. I feel like I can’t even go to the shop now because of a man trying to drag me out of my car.
“If he’s willing to do that to a young women in front of an audience, what would he be like meeting a young lassie in the street alone?
“I feel it would be a complete injustice if I didn’t speak up because he seemed like the kind of person who would go ahead and may even already have a criminal record for something like that.
“I had my disabled badge on the window of the car. It’s just really shook me."
Now appealing to the public to help catch her attacker, the 21-year-old has provided a description of the man.
He is described as a white male, around 6ft tall and muscular build, bald, no facial hair and had a Geordie accent. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans at the time of the attack, and driving a white Audi.
Commenting on the incident, a Police Scotland spokesperson told Lanarkshire Live: “We received a report of a disturbance outside the Premier Store, Millgate Road, Hamilton, at around 8.10pm on Saturday, October 1.
“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”
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