There’s a group of cowardly criminals who set upon Sliema this winter. Poor Rose Garroni was the worst victim. I was targeted in early November and my bag was snatched.
It left me traumatised. Every time I go out, I feel insecure. And there’s no night or day that does not keep me vigilant because a few weeks after my incident, another elderly lady was coming out of 12 o’clock Mass and her bag was snatched in George Borg Olivier Street by a woman, who had a car waiting for her immediately after the crime.
I was taken to the police headquarters and I could easily spot my assailant. I could see him very clearly when he snatched my bag (which could have left me crippled with a fractured hip had my bag been on my right arm) because where my incident happened, there is a huge bulb and plenty of light. He was very clean looking, with a light grey tracksuit and runners... a clean-shaven face. Not coloured, and he looked Russian or Romanian, in his late 20s. He could also have been Maltese!
When I was at the headquarters I asked the inspector whether anyone was caught with my bag after my incident but all he said was that the album I was shown was full of criminals! So where are they? Are they all running loose? Ready to target elderlies who are harmless?
Not enough patrolling is done. And criminals are not treated as criminals. They are on suspended sentences, on bail and we poor mortals, who lead decent lives and pay our taxes, have to live under this threat. Sliema wardens are only concerned with parking problems and nobody ever sees a policeman doing a patrol run in his/her car.
This must stop. We are all frightened. This last culprit has to pay for his criminal act, leaving a woman dead just because he is a bully. The day chosen was ideal... Wednesday, December 8 was a public holiday and there were no fruit/vegetable vendors in the area where Ms Garroni was struck. It is these criminals who are patrolling the area, not the policemen, to see what victim they get next!
Things are getting worse... We had a nasty graffiti on our wall recently and guess what it depicted? A bomb! All black with “Boom” written across, with a chain and a fuse. I rang the policeman on duty and all he said was that “it was merely graffiti… not to worry, madam, ignore it”. How can we ignore such a threatening choice of graffiti? A man living in the block took it seriously and was not satisfied with the police reaction.
We took a picture of it and tried to scrape it off the wall. It took nine coatings to cover it completely. This is vandalism.
The end result of these events is that many elderly females who used to enjoy coming to an evening Mass, and meeting their friends, now stay indoors. One is also afraid of morning muggings because these cowards choose anytime to mug elderly women, who cannot offer much resistance. The foreign person near the Union Club who managed to stop the culprit stealing a bag from an elderly lady in broad daylight, last week, is yet another incident in Sliema.
A burglary happened recently while the elderly female went to 6.30 p.m. Mass and she found the house topsy-turvy. Once someone’s peace of mind is disrupted by a burglar, one is left traumatised. They say money comes and goes and at least we were not faced with a gun or a masked attacker, but these women spend money on security locks and live in fear.
It is commendable what this government is offering elderlies night shelter in a home but those elderlies who can still choose to live in their homes must be assured of protection from these drug addicts and from criminals in general. This tiny island is becoming like some big city. No use policemen telling us to be forever vigilant at any time of the day, they should patrol the area more frequently. We deserve it.