A mum said she is leaving her home after it was vandalised with sickening racist and xenophobic graffiti.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is from Georgia. She moved from Eastern Europe to England in 2009 and has lived in Liverpool since 2012.
She signed her tenancy agreement for her new home on Graylands Road, Walton, in July. However, she had not moved into the property at the time of the incident as it was still being decorated.
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She and her three children had been staying with a friend in the Huyton area while they waited to move in. When she went to the home on Thursday (September 7) to check on the progress of the refurbishment, the mum saw that a window of the house had been smashed and the front wall had been daubed in racist graffiti. Part of the gatepost had also been removed.
Following the incident, the mum does not want to move into the property. She is now waiting for her housing provider to find her a new home.
Prior to the vandalism, she was looking forward to the move and having her house the way she wanted. This changed when she discovered the graffiti.
She told the ECHO: “I was happy, the neighbourhood seemed lovely, there were families around me and I was really looking forward to moving in.
(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
“I was in shock (after seeing it). There was paint over the house and a smashed window.
“I can’t even believe that this has happened. Imagine if I was already living there and my son was by the window.
“They think I don’t deserve to live here because I wasn’t born here. I’m not going back to live in that house.
“The graffiti is still there, it’s a permanent spray paint. They will have to paint over it to cover it up.”
She added: “I have made contact with the police and they’ve registered my case as a hate crime and they will investigate. Neighbours who heard the noise said they saw two guys running away from the house.”
Pictures taken by the ECHO on Thursday show the extent of the damage and the vandalism. Other racist slurs had been written on the ground floor windows but they have since been cleaned to some extent.
As she waits for alternative housing options, the mum is now splitting her time between hotels and her friend’s home near Huyton. She said she chose to speak to the ECHO to try and ensure that other people aren’t subjected to similar treatment.
She said: “I just can’t believe it. I spent all of my savings to prepare my house.
“The purpose of me speaking up is that I don’t want others to go through this. I want to protect them, I don’t want anyone to see what I’ve seen”.
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