After attack, aged woman vows never to leave home

A terrified Daphne Howard of Western Circle, Morne Coco Road, swore yesterday that she would not be leaving her house, not even to go to church, after she and her two daughters were robbed by two gunmen on Monday night at their home. Ironically, the three women had just returned from a meeting at nearby St Finbar’s RC Church to launch a Community Based Crime Protection initiative. Her daughters Elizabeth Nicholson and Pauline Howard, who is disabled, were just entering their mother’s house when they were confronted by the two armed men. According to Mrs Howard, the two men wore masks and grabbed her hand.

“I screamed out and both men seemed to have panicked. They grabbed Pauline’s handbag and ran off,” Mrs Howard said. She said neighbours came out after hearing her screams, and came to her assistance, but by that time the men had escaped in a waiting vehicle. She said while the men did not get more than her daughter’s handbag, the incident has left them very shaken and has made her reluctant to leave her house, particularly because her daughter is disabled. Mrs Nicholson said they had just come from the meeting at the church dealing with crime, but she very much doubts she would be leaving the house to even go to church in light of the crime situation in the country, including her own community.

Stephen Aboud, a member of the Community Crime Prevention and Protection Committee of the St Finbar’s Parish told Newsday it was ironic that following such a well attended anti-crime meeting, where participants included members of parliament, community leaders, leaders of the protective services and the press, a helpless old woman could be held up at gunpoint a stone’s throw away. “We are truly a society living under siege as it seems the handicapped and elderly can’t even go to church again. It’s been said that if the leaders lead, the people will follow, but while we patiently wait on them, how many more liberties will we have to surrender?

“Even if we secure our properties and lives we must not forget that we also have a moral and spiritual responsibility to protect the helpless in our society. It is gutless and cowardly for a thug to prey on infants, handicapped or the elderly and true men must rise to the challenge in their defence. “People need not arm themselves and take the law into their own hands, but communities can come together and work hand in hand with each other and the protective services to fight crime,” said Aboud. A report of the incident was made to the Four Roads Police Station and  investigations are continuing.