This sort of story does not get into 'quality' newspapers because it is not, of itself, of national importance. It just involves a pensioner dying of a heart attack when chasing yobs away who had repeatedly vandalised his garden and made his life a misery. But it tells us something of the reality of life in Britain today. And if such stories were in the 'quality' papers more, perhaps the elite which runs the media and the country would think about things in a different way.

Incidentally, I don't suppose that any crime has been recorded in this incident. It won't make it to the crime statistics.

Neighbours told how gangs of more than 30 youths aged between 11 and 20 would wreak havoc on the homes of elderly people.

Brian Walker, a close friend and neighbour, said Mr Cooper had been a long-standing target for the teenage yobs.

He said: 'John had a terrible time. They would keep coming back to give him hassle.

'Those living in the bungalows are elderly people, some of them in wheelchairs.

'They have ransacked the woman's garden next door to John, ripping up her plants, breaking furniture.'

He said: 'I was constantly having to keep my eye on John's home and chase gangs away.'

Mr Walker added that he suspected the problems were often caused by youths living in nearby tower blocks.

Fellow pensioner Jean Dutton, who lives just a few doors away, has also suffered torment at the hands of teenagers who have set alight dog dirt on her doorstep and shattered glass bottles against her walls.

The full story is here. It is not a new story. It appeared on 19th May.

Other information alongside the story itself is telling. One is the title of this entry.

Another is: "They had previously poured petrol over his lawn, ruined his immaculate flower bed and set fire to his fence" and another, "Apples and other fruit had been hurled at his house as he sat inside".

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Behaviour & Crime

Comments (0) TrackBack (46)