Disturbing attack

This is the third such robbery that has occurred in recent weeks.

If it is the same person who has committed these attacks, then it would seem reasonable to assume that another attack could happen, however unpleasant the thought may be.

If these attacks are not carried out by the same person, then, in a sense, it is even worse news.

What pathetic individual can live with themselves, taking money with violence from a 68-year-old woman, and causing her injury?

It is either someone who is extremely callous, or someone who has a desperate need for money, most likely due to a chronic hard drugs habit.

Either way, they need to be stopped, and the police, however hard they try, need the help of others in this task.

It seems highly unlikely that with these three attacks having taken place, that friends or relatives of the attacker involved are completely unaware of what is going on.

Drug addicts do no exist in isolation, they know other addicts and drug dealers, and they must also have partners or relatives.

Three physical attacks on people in Otley may not constitute a crimewave, but it is something that should genuinely concern the community as a whole.

Otley is privileged enough to be detached from the urban sprawl.

And residents and visitors - like the victim of this latest attack - have all the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the rural surroundings.

These which should include safety in the knowledge that they won't be attacked for money as they walk the street.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.