Please leave me alone

Please leave me alone

24 June 2015

A DISABLED Downpatrick woman is living in fear after being repeatedly targeted by vandals in her home.

Fifty one year-old Mairead Brady has appealed for peace from those responsible for criminal damage to her terraced house in the Flying Horse estate. 

Mairead has been recovering from her second kidney transplant since January and has suffered two heart attacks during that time.

Describing herself as “vulnerable”, she says she was terrified to find her telephone lines had been cut when she suffered from chest pains in the early hours of the morning a few weeks ago.

Unable to control her pain with medication and unable to move, she attempted to telephone her daughter for help only to realise she could not get a connection. Her daughter was only alerted to her mum’s condition when she arrived at her house to visit several hours later.

Mairead’s family was devastated she had been left on her own for so long and immediately complained to her telephone provider about her phone being out of service only to realise the lines had been physically cut.

She said vandals had also killed her plants in recent weeks, sprayed weedkiller on her lawn and attempted to cut her satellite television cables.

“This all started up about month ago and has left me unable to sleep in my bed,” she said.

“The CCTV is now in place and is connected through my phone so I can see who is outside the house, but that in itself has put me on high alert all the time.

“Police have been here three times but there is nothing they can do until somebody is caught. The stress of this means I cannot leave the house. It is driving me around the twist.”

Mairead said she feels it is also unfair that she has faced considerable bills as a result of the incidents, including the cost of CCTV installation and the need to replace plants and flower boxes that have been destroyed.

“I am not supposed to go into crowded places for six months after my operation because of the risk of catching a cold or flu so I do not venture very far,” she said.

“People around here know how much I love my plants. I follow a routine and water them and look after them well.

“I paid to have the flower boxes and baskets done properly but that was all wasted.

“I am just appealing for whoever irresponsible to leave me alone. That is all.”