A COUPLE say a family in Nunsthorpe terrorised by gangs are "not alone", having been subjected to four years of abuse which left them spending their evenings cowering in an upstairs bedroom.
The couple, of Patrick Street in Grimsby, claim they were left "traumatised" by daily attacks between 2004 and 2008 which included youths demanding money to not smash their windows.
After reading the Telegraph's shocking front page story about how a Nunsthorpe family were rehomed under police escort following a vendetta, the anonymous couple decided to tell their own story. The husband said he was forced to give up work as his wife was unable to be left at home on her own and that their son moved away from the area to avoid the abuse.
"We were just spending our days waiting for the night time to come when the gangs would come out," he said.
"Each time the gangs were just going absolutely wild, it was crazy.
"It has quietened down in recent years after some of them moved away or were sent to prison, but we're still worried they will come back."
The couple claim they had 80 logged incidents with Humberside Police in just a year but that "it just kept happening".
"We have had councillors here and the gangs have been outside trying to damage our property right in front of them," said the husband.
"We would stay upstairs until 11pm or midnight each night until it calmed down.
"For a year we had to use the back door to get in and out of our house.
"One of them used to constantly try to get money out of my wife, they would follow her to the shop or bank and force her to hand over cash.
"Then they would knock on the door and say 'give me £5 or £10 and we won't smash your windows in'.
"I told them I would never give them money and in the end I paid thousands getting my windows and doors replaced.
"Many of our neighbours said they thought we we're being treated awfully but they didn't want to get involved. Lots of people were scared back then."
The husband said things have improved in recent years after the police launched a crackdown and a number of families were evicted.
But even now he admitted the slightest noise can put the couple on edge.
"We sometimes get a bang on the door and straight away we're worried," he said.
"It makes you really nervous thinking they are back again.
"My wife has been left absolutely traumatised, I had to leave my job because she is too scared to be on her own.
"She won't stay in the house on her own and our son now lives away.
"If she sees a gang now she gets really nervous, she gets panic attacks and she's on tablets to deal with it all.
"I know where that family is coming from and I have got a lot of sympathy for them.
"It just stays with you."
If you have information about violence or antisocial behaviour, report it to Humberside Police by calling 101.
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