Post by Focus on Aug 5, 2013 12:39:59 GMT
This 81-year-old Korean War veteran was beaten up by a gang of yobs after he pleaded with them to stop pelting his home with fruit.
Pensioner Barney Alcock had left his house to try to reason with the group of eight or nine boys, who had been throwing berries at his windows in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
But his wife Thelma Alcock told how the youths turned on her husband - who suffers from dementia - breaking his glasses and leaving him with black eyes and cuts on his face.
'Shouting' : Veteran Barney Alcock, 81, had left his house in Grimsby to plead with the group of young boys to stop throwing fruit at his windows
Mrs Alcock, who had remained in the house in Redbourne Road to call the police, described looking out of her front window to see her husband 'laying on the ground, covered in blood'.
There was a group of around about eight or nine boys outside throwing berries at our window,' she said.
'I had gone out to ask them to stop but suffered a tirade of abuse - their loud shouting disturbed my husband, who suffers from dementia.
'The boys left at first and my husband stood at the gate for ten minutes.
'But they returned. He crossed the road to ask them to leave as I watched from the front window and called the police.
'I turned back from the phone to see Barney laying on the ground covered in blood and the boys running away,' Mrs Alcock said.
The veteran, who spent years in a prisoner-of-war camp while serving in the Korean War, was taken to hospital after being left bleeding on the pavement by his attackers.
Mr Alcock, whose dementia meant he was unable to recall the attack, has been unable to eat or drink since the incident a week ago, his wife said.
Distress : Mr Alcock, 81, has struggled to eat or drink in the wake of the attack in Grimsby, Lancashire, his wife said
Attack: The youths turned on Mr Alcock when he tried to reason with them in Winchester Avenue, near his home in Grimsby
'He kept asking why he was covered in blood - he had completely forgotten what had happened.
'We have lived here years and have never had any bother.
'He is in so much agony and keeps touching his head, asking why it hurts. He hasn’t eaten or drunk anything since it happened. 'It has really affected him deep inside.
'They left such a mess outside - and they broke his new glasses, which has cost us £83 to replace.
'After taking Barney to hospital, we found out he also has anaemia, which makes losing all that blood even more dangerous for him,' Mrs Alcock said.
The couple's daughter-in-law Victoria Alcock said: 'Barney doesn’t remember what happened but he doesn’t have it in him to hurt anyone.
'You don’t go round picking on 81-year-olds. The whole estate is disgusted at what has happened.
'Many of the people living there grew up knowing Barney and Thelma. They are respected in the community for being good people.
'Barney loves kids and is always a friendly and happy person. Everyone knows them. He often stands at the gate talking to strangers as they walk by.
'We had one parent march her son to the house to check if he had been involved, but he hadn’t.'
Humberside Police said officers were appealing for witnesses.
A spokesman said: 'A number of people were seen to have been throwing a number of items at the window of an address.
'The resident of the property, an elderly man, went outside and asked the individuals to stop. An altercation has then taken place and the man was assaulted, causing him to fall to the floor.
'The elderly man was taken to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital and treated for a cut to his eye, bruising to both eyes and bruising to his nose.'
He said a 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the incident and released on bail pending further investigations.
I'd like to get my hands on those 'boys' and teach them a thing or two I can tell you!! - Fx
