Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Blind girl’s lights stolen from garden

A PARTIALLY sighted teenager has blasted the robbers who stole £90 of solar lights from her front garden, which guided her out of the house.

The 14-year-old and her mother, who did not want to be named because they fear reprisals, said the robbery of the 22 lights from their Kirk Hallam garden, was ‘disgusting’.
The girl, who suffers from a number of problems with her eyes and can only see three metres in front of her is registered blind.
For the last five years her mother has been lining the route from their front door to the garden fence with the lights, which automatically turn on when it gets dark, to help her find her way as the nights draw in.
The teenager said: “It’s just disgusting.
“It makes me feel that somebody has invaded our garden – our own space.
“It’s getting darker now so it’s going to be difficult for me when I get back from school.”
Her mother said: “I was so shocked and disgusted that someone could do this.”
As well as the lights, the callous thieves stole ornaments, of mostly sentimental value, from the garden and ripped the roof off a wishing well.
“It’s just the fact that they’ve come up all the way round the garden to steal them ,” said the mother.
“How low can you get?”
The girl and her mother have now said they will contact the police about the robbery which happened at some point between Friday August 19 and the following morning.
The incident is one of a string of anti-social behaviour offences in Kirk Hallam over the last few months.
“It’s definitely getting worse around here, especially with the gangs you see hanging around,” added the girl’s mother.
Police have said they have stepped up patrols in the town after a number of incidents.
These have included one in which resident Paula Fletcher had a for sale sign smashed through her window by thugs, two weeks ago.
Shopkeepers in Queen Elizabeth Way have organised a petition to install CCTV after they say gangs who congregate there every night are a constant nuisance.

(Reproduced from the Ilkeston Advertiser, 6th Sept 2011)

Gardien Tip:  CCTV systems can now be installed at very reasonable prices and, as shown in the recent riots, they can really help to identify culprits. For some very cost-effective domestic systems, see http://www.garden-security.co.uk/garden-cctv.aspx 

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