A blind woman who was bullied in Stevenage filmed attacks to stop culprits
Siobhan Meade said abuse 'nearly destroyed her life'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A blind woman, who suffered on the streets of Stevenage abuse that “nearly destroyed” her life, stopped the attacks by wearing a camera and handing incriminating footage of to the police.
The bullies began targeting 30-year-old Siobhan Meade when she moved to the Hertfordshire town from Norfolk in November last year.
Ms Meade, who has been blind since she was 16-years-old, told BBC News that the abuse “nearly destroyed her life”.
She added that filming her attackers was her only choice, as she had no other way of gathering evidence.
Police officers used to footage identify and confront the perpetrators, who have now stopped abusing Ms Meade.
“You get the odd silly comment but nothing to the extent it was,” she explained.
“The police had been so supportive and given me lots of reassurance, so when I took the footage to them they were able to deal with it,” she told the website.
A police spokesman told BBC News that this kind of hate crime was “under-reported”.
“We are committed to ensuring people with disabilities have increased support and opportunity to report incidents in a safe and secure environment, either to the police or via a third party,” he added.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments