Four teenage boys arrested after pelting disabled woman with eggs and flour before posing for picture
A group of teenagers have been arrested after they allegedly hurled eggs and flour at a disabled woman before smiling for a picture with their victim.
The attack on the woman in her 40s took place in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk on Friday at around 5.30pm.
The teens can be seen smirking above the woman, who is seen sitting on a park beach covered in the mixture.
Following an appeal to name and shame the youths in the photo, police said that two 17-year-old males and two 15-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with the incident.
That have since been released on bail.
Inspector Anthony Bridgland said: ‘This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and we are treating the matter seriously.
‘We know this incident may have caused concern and anger both in the local community and online, but we would like to reassure everyone that we are tackling the matter robustly and supporting the victim.’
The victim, who is battling mental health problems, said: ‘I don’t consider it acceptable but I don’t particularly want to escalate the current tension in the area. I’ve got to be careful with how I deal with things obviously.’
The stepmother of the boy who took the photo said the teen ‘got caught up in it all’.
She told MailOnline: ‘He’s never been in any major bother before but this is serious. His dad won’t say anything about it because the police have asked him not to but he’s upset.
‘I don’t know why the lad got involved. As far as I know he just took the photo. I don’t know anything about him throwing the eggs and flour.
‘But he should have had nothing to do with it in the first place. He’s not a tearaway, though, he’s just been a stupid boy.’
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Locals say the teenagers in the photo are part of a larger group who have been terrorising an estate in Bury St Edmunds for several weeks.
An elderly resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I avoid the park at certain times because they gather there at 5pm and do drugs and drink alcohol.
‘I have very bad eyes and I would not know if they suddenly jumped out.
‘I am not sure if my guide dog would protect me either.
‘The real reason I carry this cane is for protection, in case one of them does something.’
A friend of the victim, Katherine Brame, said the woman was ‘safe’, writing on Facebook: ‘The lady in question needs her privacy and suffers with an unseen illness.’
