Story:Gaby Spinks
In September last year there was a series of robberies on members of the public walking through Burngreave Cemetery. What made these attacks more shocking was that they were so violent and unprovoked.
The first two victims were both men who walk through the cemetery as a short cut, like many of us. Jim Bruce, the first victim, said that he heard a noise behind him as he was gathering berries, and before he could turn round he was on the floor being beaten by three youths who then stole his wallet. Jim was really shaken up and as yet has not returned to the cemetery. He told me that if he had known that he was going to be robbed he would have given them his wallet, but he wasn’t given the chance.
In early December the police released a statement saying that two 17 year old youths had been arrested and released on bail regarding the attacks. No date has yet been set for them to appear in court. As a resident of Pitsmoor for 20 years I feel that we as a community mustn’t let these incidents bring us down. Yes, Pitsmoor has its problems but more importantly Pitsmoor has a great vibrant community and we need to nurture it.
Don’t stop using our beautiful green spaces, even if it means dragging a friend and a dog round too!
Please contact 101 quoting incident number 792 of 22nd September 2015 or 582 of 26th September 2015 if you have information that might help.