‘They can’t forget’
ELDERLY PAIR LIVING IN FEAR AFTER BEING BEATEN UP IN THEIR OWN HOME
A NOISE from the bedroom at 9.30pm tipped off Pritam Noorpuri something was wrong.
Her husband, Harbhjan, went to investigate and found a masked man, dressed head to toe in black, standing on his white bedsheets.
The intruder had something in his hand and, as the man swung it, the 86-year-old grabbed it, worried it was a knife.
They struggled and two other men, who had climbed through the window, forced Mr Noorpuri into the narrow gap between the room’s two beds where they beat him.
Mr Noorpuri cannot remember how many times he was punched and kicked, but four fractured ribs testify to the savagery of the attack.
Then Mrs Noorpuri came into the bedroom and, despite being 89 herself, fought with the attackers – by this point a fourth burglar was in their home – trying to get them off her husband.
She was slammed into a television and forced into the same narrow gap where her husband was immobilised by the burglars.
The beating would have continued, but Mrs Noorpuri saw one of the pair’s council alarms below the bed.
While two of the men searched the house, stealing her jewellery box, Mrs Noorpuri grabbed it and pressed the button. Her son Harpreet believes if she had not, his parents might be dead.
This was the second attempted burglary of the Noorpuris’ home in two years, and the experience is becoming more common in west London, with police only recently getting the number of aggravated robberies back under control after a steady rise.
From July 2017 to June 2019, there were more than 3,600 burglaries in Hillingdon, more than 4,100 in Ealing and more than 3,300 in Hounslow. Also worrying was an increase in aggravated robberies, with 114 since June last year – peaking with 22 in November.
Detective Chief Inspector Alex Bingley said: “The West Area’s Proactive Unit have been working hard to tackle aggravated burglaries in the local area, resulting in a significant drop in reports since April.
“We’ve carried out several successful operations specifically targeting organised criminal groups and arrested and charged some prolific offenders in the community.
“We can now see a clear reduction in aggravated burglaries which is fantastic, but there is still work to be done. We continue our efforts, alongside further cross border initiatives targeting offenders operating across large geographic areas.”
After the attack, which occurred on June 30, Mrs Noorpuri spent the night in hospital.
Her husband spent four nights, being transferred to St Mary’s Hospital with doctors fearing his damaged ribs could affect his lungs.
Now they live in fear, too frightened to return to their council bungalow in Uxbridge.
Instead, they are staying with their son Harpreet, in Hayes.
Harpreet said even now when he comes home from work his parents are spooked by the sound of the front door slamming.
He said: “They are scared, they say, ‘who’s that? Who’s that?’” “They can’t forget.”
The couple’s other son, Satnam, said his mother told him she was seeing the burglars everywhere, and imagining them in the house.
He said: “She said ‘when I’m alone, I’m still seeing them in front of me.’ That’s the effect.”
The 15-minute attack, Harpreet said, was not targeted and could have happened to anyone.
He said: “They are very popular in that area. When you go there, you’ll see the big garden. He (Harbhjan) loves to garden, and anyone who came he would give a sunflower or a cauliflower. Anyone who wanted strawberries, they would give them free strawberries.”
The Noorpuris say they chose to tell their story to warn others to be on their guard.
Mr and Mrs Noorpuri hope to find a new council home in Hayes, but Harpreet said he is happy to house them as long as they needed.
“As long as they’re safe, as long as they feel safe,” he said.
She said ‘when I’m alone, I’m still seeing them in front of me’. That’s the effect Son Harpreet Noorpuri