A mum-of-two had abused hurled at her by a gang of teenagers in front of her young children.
Rebecca McDowall was left distraught after the gang started calling her a "loser" and a “disabled c***” in Queens Park, St Helens, on Friday. The 29-year-old was with her five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter when a group of five teenagers approached then at around 5.15pm.
Ms McDowall said she decided to keep quiet and get home as quickly as possible. But the teenagers – four boys and a girl – continued yelling as the family moved away to Dilloway Street.
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Ms McDowall, who is an author, said: “It was the language that really got to me because it was just vile and I couldn’t understand why you would use it in front of young children. It’s a hate crime.”
She said she has been in a wheelchair for ten years and has received much abuse. But she said this was the first time it had happened in front of her children, who were extremely upset.
She added: “My five year old son was really quite upset because he’s never heard the word disabled used in a negative way. He couldn’t understand why a stranger would yell such horrible words at me.
“It wasn’t the swearing that got me. It was ‘disabled’ being said in a derogatory tone because we’ve worked hard to bring the children up to understand that it’s just something different and everyone is unique in their own way anyway.”
The family walks through the park every day but her son woke up the following morning and said he didn’t want to go back.
Ms McDowall has had messages from others in St Helens, saying they have experienced similar comments. She said she would like to talk to kids calmly about their words and the impact they had.
She reported the case to the police who were supportive – but, as the kids could not be identified, they had to close the case.
