APPEAL TO HELP OAPS AFTER YOBS DAMAGE CAR AND HOME
FAMILY WANTS TO RESTORE THEIR FAITH IN HUMANITY
THE family of a couple whose world was turned upside after two men climbed onto their roof in a stand off with police are appealing for help.
Graham and Susan Johnson were left terrified as two men climbed the roof of their Grimsby bungalow in Swinderby Gardens and began flinging tiles towards police at the scene.
Their car - which wasn’t insured as it was declared off the road - had its windscreen and lights smashed.
What happened to their home and car that day has left the hardworking couple, who are in their mid-70s, devastated.
The rooftop incident came just days after they lost their beloved dog.
The couple’s daughter, Becca Marshall, has set up a fundraising page to help them recover, saying any donations would help to “restore our faith in human nature.”
She wrote: “My parents have worked hard all of their lives. Both liked gardening and taking out their beloved dog Ernie who they lost earlier in the week.
“My mum has a bad heart and obviously myself and my brother were extremely concerned for her well-being.
“The cul de sac they are in looked like a war zone.
“They are both very proud people and I’ll probably get a telling off for this, but if we could just have a little help towards the car repairs, tidy the garden or even towards a dog fund to help them feel a little bit safer and restore our faith in human nature it would be much appreciated.” Graham was trapped outside his house during the stand-off as he had been to the supermarket, and was unable to get back into the house to help Susan.
He told the Grimsby Telegraph: “My wife saw somebody go past the back window and she quickly called the police.
“I was concerned about my wife more than the roof or the car. She was in the house the entire time while the two men were smashing up the roof.
“My wife is too shaken up to speak about it, she has been through a lot.
“The house is just a mess and the car is a write-off.”
Riot police responded to the incident which has seen two men charged with multiple offences. Declan McLaughlan, 23, of Carnforth Crescent, Grimsby, and Callum John Burns, 21, appeared before Grimsby magistrates on Monday morning.
Mr Burns is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray, two counts of criminal damage of over £5,000 in value by damaging a roof, roof tiles and a car; possession of an offensive weapon namely a knuckle duster and robbery by stealing three bottles of spirits valued at £47.
He is also charged with a separate data protection offence which happened on October 29 last year where personal data was destroyed.
Mr McLaughlan is charged with robbery of three bottles of spirits, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of criminal damage over £5,000 by damaging a roof, roof tiles and a car, affray, wounding Det Insp Scott Miller with intent and attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to PC Michael Spaven.
They are also charged with the assault of a man who had intervened during the robbery of the Premier store where it is alleged that a shop worker was dragged outside.
Both have been remanded into custody until a Crown Court date on February 8.
Becca is hoping to raise £300 through the appeal, and is already two-thirds of the way there. You can donate through the Go Fund Me page.