A 92-year-old man narrowly escaped injury when yobs shot a hole in his bedroom window just as he was getting ready to turn in.
The incident has brought to a head years of anti-social behaviour from youngsters on Redhill Park, Bournemouth.
But great-grandfather Willy Webb has sent out a clear message to the teenage tearaways that he won’t be beaten.
He defiantly told the Echo: “I am not scared. If I was younger I would have been up that road.”
Mr Webb was getting ready for bed at his Redhill Drive bungalow at around 10.15pm on Easter Monday when he heard a bang as what is believed to be a ball-bearing gun pellet smashed the glass.
He said it was the latest in a long line of problems and police would have to be there “24 hours a day” to help.
Willy, who has lived in the road for around 30 years, said: “The first thing I knew there was a bang and I heard them outside. I think it was two males and one female, aged about 14 by the sounds of it.
“Although my eyesight is bad my hearing is above average – just because I’m 92, I’m not stupid.
“This is just one incident of many.”
Willy, who owned a cycle shop in Moordown for 20 years before working for Bournemouth Council, added: “I couldn’t see the hole in the glass, but I could feel afterwards there was a hole there.
“It didn’t do my pacemaker any good.
“We have more or less got used to it here because for years we’ve had nothing done about it.
“The police would have to be here 24 hours a day. The police don’t stand a chance unless they’re here – they were very good. They were here as quickly as they could be.
“It’s just gone through the first pane, I was dead lucky there.”
Residents say antisocial behaviour, mostly related to Redhill Park opposite, has caused many problems.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he had made dozens of calls to police – he has offered a £50 reward for anyone who helps catch those who shot Willy’s window.
Police said they were called at 10.20pm on Monday and are asking for any witnesses to contact them. If you can help, call 101 and quote incident number 430 of April 9.
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