A terrified Darlington mum says her children are “too scared to leave the house” after years of "targeted" abuse and BB gun attacks on their home.
The Polish mum, who wants to remain anonymous, has lived on Edgemoor Road in the Firthmoor area since 2011. She says windows at her house have been smashed multiple times, her children’s bikes repeatedly stolen and her car and home vandalised.
The Darlington resident believes her family is being singled out because of where they are from and says she now feels “safer dead than alive” in the place that was meant to be their home.
She said: “For the past five years I have been living with ongoing harassment in the community where I live. During this time, my home and my family have been repeatedly targeted.
“What should have been a place of safety has instead become a source of fear, anxiety and constant distress.”
She described a recent attack on July 1, when masked youths came to her house in broad daylight and smashed her house and car windows with BB guns.
Pictures of the damage show holes through the windows, the car window entirely smashed in, and both the house and vehicle pelted with eggs.
She said ball bearings were found on the ground and inside the car after she heard what she believed were shots as she returned home with one of her children.
She said: “After it happened, I was scared to even go out of the house to check. I keep thinking what if that had hit my head or my eye, or even worse if it happened to my child. That is not a joke. I cannot even imagine what could have happened.”
She says her children no longer feel safe doing everyday things like going to the shop.
She said: “They are even scared to go to the local shop, which is maybe 50 metres from the house. They cannot ride their bikes because they are scared the boys will steal them again.
“No child should have to grow up frightened to walk around their own neighbourhood or go to the shop to buy an ice cream.”
She says the family have been subjected to racist abuse, told to “go back to your country” and called slurs about being Polish whenever they walk through the area.
The mum said: “We are regularly shouted at, insulted, laughed at, mocked and humiliated. These hateful words made us feel unwelcome in the place we have called home for years.
“Even something as simple as walking to the local shop or taking my children to school has become a distressing experience.”
She says she has reported incidents to the police “many times” over the years but feels she has been left to face the ordeal alone.
She said: “I never received the support, protection or care that any victim should expect. Time after time, I felt abandoned by those who should have protected us. Every institution and every person I turned to for help let me down. The only advice I hear is to move out.
“I have got to the point now where I have had enough and I just want to move. I truly believe there is no other option for me and my family now. I feel helpless. I do not want justice or revenge. I just want to move somewhere quiet where my kids can be safe.”
Years of threats and attacks have also taken a heavy toll on her mental health.
She said: “Living like this has had a devastating impact on my mental and emotional wellbeing. My home no longer feels like a safe place. Instead it has become somewhere I never truly feel at peace. Sometimes I feel like I want to die because I cannot live like this anymore.
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“I am not asking for sympathy, I am asking to be heard. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home, regardless of where they come from.
“I simply want my children to have the childhood they deserve, without being shouted at, threatened, attacked or humiliated just for stepping outside the front door.”
Durham Police have been contacted for comment about the ongoing incidents.
