Woman and her son are forced to flee new home

A woman and her nine-year-old son have been forced to move out of their home after they endured five nights of terror last week, when every window at the back of their house in Farran, Mullingar was smashed by vandals.Mary Leonard, who only moved into the Council house three months ago with her son, said she is scared for her son's welfare and her own safety, after nightly attacks by "young lads up to no good"."I've been living in Mullingar nearly twelve years and I've never experienced anything like this before," said Mary, who is originally from New York."I mean I grew up in the Bronx and to say that I'm terrified is an understatement," said Mary, who showed where her house had been targeted again and again between Friday, July 31 and Monday, August 3.Mary said when she first moved to Farran, she had no problems, and thought the first attack was just a once-off:"There were no problems when I first moved here. There are lovely people in this area, and then the first window was broken and I thought it was a one-off. The next day, the second window was broken, and I was kinda getting worried then," Mary explained."Then they broke the bathroom window on Monday, and then last Friday, they broke the my patio door window, so every single back window in the house has been smashed."Even just last night, about half four in the morning, I could hear people running back and forth, tips at the window. I don't know if they were throwing stones or what they were doing"When I heard the bang, I ran to the window and I saw somebody jumping the wall, but all I could see was the hood, so I couldn't say who it was.Her son is now so scared that he is afraid to even sleep in the house."My son was in bed asleep, so it terrified him. After it happened a second time I had to call my uncle to come pick him up because he was afraid to stay in the house."My son is terrified. He hasn't stayed in the house since. He won't even go to the bathroom unless somebody stands at the door because he's too afraid."At this point Mary doesn't know where she is going to live now."I rang the Council and they said they will get me an apartment but I don't know how long that will take. But my son wont come home, so I can't stay here. So at this point I have all my belongings in different people's houses. I might stay with friends for a few days, but at this point I don't know where I'm going next," she said."I've had the Guards out six times, but by the time they get here, they're already gone. What's annoying me is, there was a woman living here before me and she had the same problem. This house was actually meant for pensioners, but they put me and my son into it, it wouldn't be fair on an elderly person living here."It's terrible when you're scared in your own home, I've never felt anything like it before. I can't understand it. I think it's young lads just messing and terrorising other people. I can't understand how parents could let kids go out at night and not know where they are."It's not fair, I mean there's lovely people around here and it shouldn't be done to them. If everyone could just get along and leave each other alone. Especially for the kids, it's not fair on kids to be tormented like that. Like my fella just turned nine and he's afraid to sleep in his own bed," she finished.