"Pay the f****** money back": Family traumatised as thugs smash house in random attack

A mother has told how she has been left "shaking in fear" every morning since a random attack by a gang of thugs on her disabled father's home. While visiting her 79-year-old dad, Gillian Hope heard a knock on the door that quickly turned into "a constant banging" followed by a terrifying smash as a stone was hurled through the front window. Fearing the worst Gillian called the police but her dad Richard opened the front door and was confronted by three men shouting "pay the f**** money back". 

The disturbing attack happened in Gathurst Lane, Shevington, near Wigan, Greater Manchester, at around 10:15pm on December 22. Worried for her father, Gillian quickly locked the door and waited for police to arrive while the men sat in a white car outside the house.

Gillian said she assessed the damage afterward and found that many of their windows had been smashed or cracked. They believe the attack on their home was targeted but believe the perpetrators must have got the wrong home, and Gillian and Richard say they have been left petrified and anxious following the attack.

Gillian told the Manchester Evening News: "I haven't slept since, I'm absolutely exhausted. I can't cope at all.

"We don't feel safe anymore at all. I'm doing the best I can to carry on and support my dad but I'm just so exhausted after this.

"I've looked at some CCTV footage of the incident today and it's so scary. It's very busy around but these men are there doing this and shouting at us, it wasn't pleasant at all having to relive it.

"How do we ever move on from this, I don't feel safe on my own anymore. We've both been left feeling very vulnerable, my dad is crying all the time. We feel helpless."

Gillian added that they have received a lot of support from neighbours and others in the tight-knit community where her dad lives.

She said: "My dad has lived there for 45 years, he's very well known and loved in the village, he's a local celebrity with the record-breaking sunflowers he's grown on the house. 

"It's a lovely village, everyone knows each other, and we've never had any problems in the past. For something like this to happen is very frightening especially after the shooting last month, it has really shaken the village, it just doesn't happen in a place like this.

"We're just absolutely baffled by why they've done this. It's not as if they've been quiet about it either, all the neighbours were watching them do this.

"I am shaking when I wake up now, I have never had anxiety but I feel so worried all the time now. I'm frightened to leave the house to walk dogs on my own, which is my business, it's so sad."

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "At around 10:20pm on Thursday 22 December 2022, officers received reports of criminal damage of a property on Gathurst Lane, Shevington. Officers attended the scene and no injuries were reported. An investigation has since been launched to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident."