A HARROWING example of everyday cruelty, which is played out in communities across the North-East, has highlighted the importance of a new campaign to tackle hate crime.

Emma Gilfoyle went blind after a bad reaction during a trip to a bowling alley, possibly when a substance added to a soft drink reacted with her medication.

She lost her job, home and independence and when she got her confidence to go out, she was picked on by primary school children who blocked her way with wheelie bins and spun her around to disorientate her.

The former NHS support worker, 43, was speaking at the launch of Durham Police’s Hate Hurts campaign aimed at tackling hate crimes, which encourages more people to report offences.

Ms Gilfoyle, from Willington, told delegates she was the designated driver on a night out to a bowling alley in Stockton when she fell ill in 2008.

She underwent three lumbar punctures in case she had meningitis, developed blurred vision, and, within five days, she had lost her sight.

Medics told her they believed she could have had her drink spiked.

Ms Gilfoyle moved from a flat in Sunderland to her parents’ home in Witton Gilbert, near Durham, and learned how to walk with a cane.

But the first time she went out on her own to the local shop, on the day household rubbish was collected a group of children cruelly made fun of her and put bins in her path.

She said: “Every time I tried to get round them they were just there laughing and spinning me round again.

“It must have been a couple of minutes, but to me it felt a lot longer and then an adult shouted and the bins disappeared.”

Ms Gilfoyle managed to get home eventually but was so distraught that her father and nephew went out to find the culprits, and on finding the group of children, explained how upset they had made her.

She said: “They said it was funny, they just didn’t understand.”

The volunteer cricket coach did not report the incident to the police when it happened ten years ago.

But she has since reported a taxi driver who refused to take her and her guide dog home, which resulted in the cabbie losing his licence.

The conference also heard from Mel Metcalf, 53, of the Durham Pride and Rainbow Alliance, who is gay and has been with his partner for 26 years.

He lives in Castleside, near Consett, and said: “In wider County Durham people still have a very pitmatic view.

“If you live in Durham City, fabulous. You have a support network. If you live in Peterlee or Consett it is a little bit different.

“I have got a slash on my wrist where I have been stabbed and I have been spat at.

“I used to joke that walking down Consett high street holding my partner’s hand would give me a life expectancy of two seconds, now it might be up to ten seconds, so there is an improvement.”

“Seriously though, if anyone does feel threatened they do have to report it because if they do not report we are never going to be able to change it.”

Durham’s Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner Ron Hogg, who is leading the campaign, has said tackling hate crime was a priority for the force.

Sajna Ali, from Darlington, who works as Black, Asian, Minorities and Ethnic officer for Darlington Constituency Labour Party, said she was aware of a rise in racist attitudes in recent years.

She said: “It is a fact that in the the 21st century, social media had led to a rise in racism.

“There is so much Islamophobia as a result, unfortunately, so it is important that people know that they can tell someone and it will be dealt with and there are people there to help.”