You will likely have read about a shocking incident at the Calder last week, where a local woman was subjected to an unprovoked attack by a gang of feral, vile youths, predominantly girls. We’re absolutely disgusted that this could happen in Blantyre and posting further here to raise awareness.
Melanie Cuthbertson (52) was punched and stamped on the head as she lay sunbathing next to a waterfall and was seriously injured. She told the story in her own words posting on Telegraph as did family members, with the National press now picking up on the brutal assault. This article highlights the story again to help ensure those youths who did this, do NOT get away with it and fully understand the seriousness of their actions. This could be perceived as an attempted murder.
Firstly, we hope Melanie is recovering well and hope both the physical and mental scars from this horrific incident are starting to heal. This is NOT what Blantyre is like and we reach out to Melanie and her family to help in any way to help.
Melanie was enjoying an afternoon at the Calder on Monday 24th June. If you recall, that was a warm day at the start of last week and had been wild swimming with friends that afternoon. As her friends left, Melanie stayed on to enjoy the warm afternoon. But, between 5pm and 6pm, as she sunbathed at the Milheugh Falls alone, she was suddenly set about by a teenage boy stomping on her face in a sickening unprovoked attack.
What followed next was violent, brutal and evil.
A group of around 9 teenage girls, perhaps around 15-17 years old or so, then joined in the sickening attack.
Posting on Blantyre Telegraph last week, Melanie told us, “It’s a beautiful area and my favourite place to go for a swim so I just wanted to hang around and enjoy the sunshine.
“I noticed some youths earlier and some of them seemed drunk, but they were a distance away from me so I hadn’t really paid them any attention and we had no interaction whatsoever.”
“I had pitched a little pop-up tent by the water and was lying on it relaxing when I suddenly opened my eyes and noticed some of this gang had congregated around me.”
Before she could react, they pounced on her and started to rain blows down on her head.
She continued: “The boy was wild-eyed and definitely the ring leader. They were all hitting me but he was directly over me and punching and stamping on my head. I was terrified. I was in fear for my life because I didn’t know when they were going to stop.”
Melanie doesn’t remember what happened next as she passed out from the force of the blows and became unconscious. When Melanie came to, two young girls were crouched by her side and asked her if she was okay. She believes they contacted emergency services for help.
Police then arrived and took statements from a couple of witnesses who observed the attack from a distance and gave descriptions of the gang who by then had run off. Melanie received head injuries and was taken to hospital.
Melanie took up wild swimming with friends to help with anxiety issues and has been left in a bad place following this terrifying attack, unsure if she’ll ever return to her favourite outdoor place.
It’s our understanding a concentrated effort is being made by Police to trace these individuals responsible including the checking of local CCTV on the approaches to the Calder. Parents of these individuals must have an inclination of what happened or with whom their children were with that day.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 6.30pm on Monday, 24 June, we received a report of an assault on a woman at Calderfalls, Blantyre. The 52-year-old woman was taken to Hairmyres Hospital for treatment. Enquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible.”
We hope sincerely these were not Blantyre kids, but these cowardly idiots who think they can attack innocent people in broad daylight, need swiftly caught and punished.
