I Feel Utterly Let Down. People Whose Lives Are Ruined by Thugs Are Made to Feel Like Trouble-Makers. Gordon Brown Is Welcome to Spend a Week On My Estate and See How His Policies Aren't Working [Scot Region]

Summary

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WHEN Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Hazel Smith discovered a friend and her children were the victims of a relentless hate campaign, she didn't hesitate to offer support.

She stood up against the feral teenagers who made Fiona Pilkington's life a living hell, offering a glimmer of humanity to an isolated, vulnerable woman who felt so helpless and ignored that she was ultimately driven to kill herself and her disabled daughter Francecca, by sitting inside her car and setting it alight.

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I Feel Utterly Let Down. People Whose Lives Are Ruined by Thugs Are Made to Feel Like Trouble-Makers. Gordon Brown Is Welcome to Spend a Week On My Estate and See How His Policies Aren't Working [Scot Region]

Mrs Smith's kindness and defiance was in contrast to the police, who repeatedly ignored Ms Pilkington's plight - and her 33 calls for help. But her reward for being a good neighbour to someone who so desperately needed it was to be tormented by the same gangs who drove her friend to despair. She was taunted in the street, while her pet guinea pigs were shot at with an air rifle.

Determined to take a stand against the yobs, she went to court last week to give evidence against a 16-year-old accused of harassing her - a youth who had previously been linked to the abuse of Mrs Pilkington.

But the stress of facing her allege...

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