Blind Brothers Fear Attackers' Return

A fresh appeal has been made for information as two blind brothers are still living in fear of the thugs who terrorised, beat and robbed them in their home over a year ago.

No-one has been arrested for the assault on the Whiteabbey victims, George Sloan, 39, and his brother Stephen, 43, who were targeted in late October 2008 by two men in their 20s.

Every knock on the victims' door leaves the pair more traumatised as they fear the attackers will return and again force their way into their Glenville Parade home in Whiteabbey.

There have been no arrests to date and while a PSNI spokeswoman said the investigation remains open, the brothers suffer flashbacks to their ordeal when they had to plead with the intruders not to hurt their guide dogs, while they themselves were being beaten with sticks for just over £30.

The victims' sister, Vera Campbell, (pictured here, reviewing coverage of the attack with her brothers and their dogs) lives nearby.

She said someone holds the key to allowing her brothers the peace they deserve: "We still think the two attackers - only one of whom spoke - were using local knowledge to target my brothers.

"Someone pointed them out as vulnerable targets for these cowards," she said.

"Whoever it is needs to examine their conscience and come forward now with the information, as only then - when the attackers are caught - can my brothers begin to get back to normal."

The brothers - who both have Retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye condition resulting in blindness - were not expecting any visitors that Sunday night at the end of October 2008 and were surprised to hear a knock at the door.

Stephen sustained several cuts and bruises to his face and body while George was left with a broken arm in the attack after both were rushed to hospital.

"Stephen was also injured more than at first thought, as a painful foot turned out later to be a broken bone which required a special splint," Vera said this week.

But Stephen said that he still fears their return: "I keep reliving the terrifying incident when I opened the door and they got in and started asking us for money and for our drugs.

"They then started beating us so we gave them what we had. It was not very much, about £20 from me and £12 from George," he revealed.

Stephen was most afraid for the guide dogs: "We begged them not to hurt them. We told them they were guide dogs," he said, revealing for the first time that a week after the traumatic ordeal, Otis's face swelled up and one of his teeth dropped out.

On top of Stephen later discovering his foot had been fractured, he also revealed that he was rushed to hospital again a few weeks afterwards - with a suspected heart attack.

"It turned out to be a reaction to the anti-inflammatory drugs," he said.

However, neither has felt safe following the ordeal and their sister Vera and other members of the family have stayed with them as part of a regular routine, all through the past two winters.

Brother-in-law Malcolm Campbell revealed that his in-laws value their independence and much prefer to get by themselves: The boys want to live their own lives - as independent people - and that should be their right.

"These people need to be caught," he said, reiterating his wife's call for information.

"Someone out there knows something. It is long past the time when they should be passing on that information and giving George and Stephen back their lives," Malcolm concluded.

(BMcC/GK)