War veteran aged 96 is so terrorised by trespassers that he only sleeps for an hour a night
PENSIONER, WHO SUFFERS FROM ALZHEIMER’S, REGULARLY FINDS RUBBISH STREWN ACROSS GARDEN
A PENSIONER with Alzheimer’s is so scared of trespassers in his garden that he can only sleep for one hour a night.
The 96-year-old war veteran, who lives in an adapted bungalow in Bransholme, has been forced to put up with people trespassing in his garden and trying the doors to his home.
His family say Hull City Council will not make his garden more secure.
The man’s daughter, who is staying with her dad during the coronavirus lockdown period, has said the family first reported the issue to the council in October, but now realises the problem is worse than they first thought.
On Saturday, April 11, trespassers entered the garden, situated at the back of two tenfoots that join together, and left five bags of rubbish strewn around the garden.
The woman said while living at her father’s she has also heard people trying the doors to his home in the middle of the night.
She said: “At first, we thought it might be his Alzheimer’s getting worse, but since being here I’ve heard it too, people trying the doors.
“It’s been a problem since he was in his 80s. He’s lived here for 30 years and once had a very serious breakin where someone got through his bedroom window and ransacked his bedroom.
“Two tenfoots run around his house and people go down there and take drugs. I woke up the other night and someone was trying the door.”
The woman said people enter her dad’s garden “at least three times a week” and she has found “dirty needles and condoms” in the tenfoot that runs behind the bungalow.
She said: “He gets out of bed looking to see if anyone is there. I think he only sleeps about an hour a night.
“I first contacted the council in October to see if we can make the gate more secure, or to make the fence higher so people can’t come in.
“People have been coming in and breaking into the shed, so I have asked for a keypad on the gate to make it more secure.”
The woman said on Sunday morning, she woke to find rubbish strewn around the garden.
She said: “The people whose rubbish it was only live a few doors away and someone had taken it out of their skip, brought it to my dad’s garden to rifle through and left it all there.
“When I cleared it up there was five bin bags of rubbish. They think they can get away with it. They must have gone through the bags, realised there was nothing there and thought ‘we’ll try and break in the house instead’ and left the mess for him to find.”
The woman said her father’s neighbour, who shares his adjoining garden has also had things taken from her home.
She said: “Someone reached in the open bathroom window and nicked a full can of Impulse and a week later threw it back in when it was empty.
“Last week, someone knocked on the front door and I answered and there was a man there looking dodgy, he looked shocked when I opened the door. He looked like he was just going to storm in.
“There was a red Ford car pulled up with the engine running and I told him I had a description and the car and would be reporting it to police.
“My dad is still well enough to live independently with carers popping in.”
The woman says the police have been “so helpful” and she could not praise them or social services enough for their help, but said she wanted more from the council.
She said: “He is a council tenant and they have a duty of care. We asked them to come and put a letterbox in and they put it on the neighbour’s side.
“When we reported it once a site manager came and didn’t knock or come to the house, walked straight in the gate like the trespassers and she didn’t come and speak to us or see how close it all was to where he sleeps.
“The council should have been working with me on this.
“I have approached the council about all of this for two or three years.”
After receiving a call from the Mail on Tuesday, April 14, Hull City Council has since repaired the man’s fence and they say they will be looking to install a key code system on his gate.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “The fence repairs have been completed and we have arranged for the fly-tip to be cleared.
“With regard to the back gate, we agreed to fit a lock with a key code system, as requested by the man and his daughter.
“Since this type of lock isn’t standard issue, we’ve had to place a special order.
“Unfortunately, due to the Covid19 outbreak, our contractor is having difficulties obtaining the lock. As soon as we receive the lock, it will be fitted immediately.”
The man’s family are looking for two part-time carers to help over the isolation period and pop in to see him for a price of £9 an hour.
They must be Dbs-checked with experience in caring for someone with Alzheimer’s.
If you would like your details passed on to the man’s family, please email sophie.corcoran@ reachplc.com
Last week, someone knocked on the front door and I answered and there was a man there looking dodgy
Daughter