Everyone should have the right to live in peace in their own home. They should not have to face the prospect of leaving the house in which they have spent almost a lifetime because of relentless persecution by yobs.

The plight of the 61-year-old Heaton woman driven by years of victimisation and vandalism to live in a boarded-up house is an appalling indictment of the cruel nature of some youngsters in today's society and of the apparent inability of the authorities to do anything about it.

This poor woman has had to endure nine years of anxiety. Her home has been burgled seven times and her precious possessions have been stolen. Bricks and stones have been hurled through her windows and fireworks pushed through her letter box. She is now afraid to go out and exists in artificial light behind boarded-up windows.

The Council have tried to help. They have paid for the work to secure the woman's house and have offered her alternative accommodation in a flat. However, she does not want to move. Rightly, she asks: "Why should I? This is my home."

Though she has rejected the offered escape route and is determined to stay put, she still deserves all the support the Council and police can give her to help to protect her. But most of all she needs the support of the local community in which she lives. Surely some of her neighbours know who these youths are who are terrorising her? They should be doing all they can to keep them under control rather than allowing them to continue their campaign of terror.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.