Disabled archer assaulted

[Andyakashrek]

The following is from Norwich Evening news 24.
Theres some scum about, hopefully if he is caught he should be made to stand in front of a boss and told to catch the arrows coming his way. I also have this condition and believe me it's not nice, chronic pain and stress like this will be agony for her.

A world champion disabled archer was slashed in the face when she pulled her mobility car over to answer her mobile phone in broad daylight.

A thug reached through the window of Mel Clarke's car and attacked her before stealing her mobile phone.

Miss Clarke was left with a five-inch cut to her face, after the attack which happened at about 7.30pm on Monday, April 24, in Hellesdon Road, Earlham.

The 23-year-old, who is paralysed from the waist down and blind in her right eye, was so traumatised she was today still unsure whether her attacker used a knife or punched her with a ringed fist.

She had pulled down her car window because it was a hot night, and her attacker saw his chance to strike.

Miss Clarke lives with her parents in Nightingale Drive, Taverham, but because they were not at home she drove her specially adapted mobility car to her friends' house in Lakenham, where they telephoned for the police and paramedics.

They arrived to find her with a badly bruised face, covered in blood and deeply traumatised.

Miss Clarke, who is a teaching assistant at Bignold School, was still too upset to talk to the Evening News, but her mum Brenda Clarke, 54, said her daughter was obeying the law by pulling off the road on to a lay-by to answer the mobile.

Mrs Clarke, a teaching assistant at Nightingale School, said: “She was doing what she is supposed to do by pulling off the road when your mobile rings, then this happens. Mel's still very traumatised, after all this happened when it was still light.”

Police spokeswoman Kristina Raines said: “The car was parked and she was answering a call on her mobile phone when a man reached through her car window and snatched the phone from her hand, injuring her face in the process.

“The phone was a Sony Ericsson black and silver camera phone.”

Her attacker was a white man in his mid 20s, about 5ft 8in with short hair. He was wearing a dark-coloured hooded top with a small white motif.

Miss Raines said: “Officers conducted house to house inquiries in the immediate area but would like to appeal to anyone who may have seen this incident or who has any information about it to come forward.”

As reported in the Evening News, Miss Clarke cemented her world number one disabled archery status by winning the gold medal in the women's compound bow class at the World Disabled Archery Championships in Massa, Italy, last year.

Last year, a community fund-raising campaign led by Norwich Proclaimers Church and Able Community Care raised £8,075 for Miss Clarke, which paid for her £5,000 wheelchair and for help in her preparations before the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Miss Clarke took up archery more than seven years ago. She has been in a wheelchair since the age of 11 having a form of arthritis called reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

She also contracted Lyme disease in July 2003, a disease which is often fatal and left her paralysed from the waist down and blind in the right eye.

She won gold at the European Disabled Archery Championships in Poland in 2002 and represented the full UK women's team in June 2003 at the XVI Golden Arrow Grand Prix in Antalya, Turkey, where she won a silver medal. She holds 20 county records, 10 national able-bodied records and six International Paralympic Committee world records.

Ü Anyone with information should call Det Con Rob Windsor-Waite at Norwich CID on 0845 4564567 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.


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[simon m]

I had a chap try and grab my mobile off the dash in london one summer........

I (unlike the poor victim in the story) am strong enough to grab the guys arm and pull as viciously as i could and he hit his head on the car door frame....

This story makes me sick. Hope she recovers psychologically and physically quickely

Even if they catch the guy, ( They won't ) what will happen? He will get community service The Law in this country makes life too easy for scum like him.

OK to add a little balance to this sad story. Attackers like the one described do not always come out so well...I'm not condoning my friends actions here but It may add a little perspective.

My work mate is 6' 6" and weighs about 22 stone. Last year he was sat in his car in Asda car park...late at night a person of the same description approached him with a rather large knife in his hand...hmmmm. My mate has little or no patience for this kind of thing. He opend his door squashing the attacker against another car. He got out of the car and launched him self at the guy. He landed with his full 22 stone on the guys chest and promptly started to bang the guys head on the ground, red mist and all he lost it. He had to be dragged off by some work men. He was told to leave before anyone else saw what happend. He heard no more, and to this day knows nothing about the attackers condition.

So... let me confirm..what goes arround comes arround...the guy will pick on the wrong person one day.

[Thunk]

Well, there are two completely opposite threads here.

The first is concern for Mel Clarke. To be honest, I have never heard of her, which is something I am a bit ashamed of since she is a world champion in a sport I love - but the archery world is so fragmented that it is difficult to keep up with all the various strands.

Actually, it matters not that she is an archer; in a sense it is irrelevant that she is disabled, since her attacker would probably not have known (he certainly wouldn't have cared either). But it's an appalling indictment of our society that someone cannot pull over to answer their phone without being attacked in this way. I hope she recovers soon - not just physically but psychologically as well.

The other thread concerns her attacker. On one level he is just an opportunist - probably a junkie who sees an easily 'acquired' phone as the price of his next fix. Let's hope that if he is caught, that isn't used as some sort of mitigating circumstance. He should be tried for theft and GBH, and the sentence given should reflect the seriousness of the assault - he should serve several years for an attack like this.

Does anybody on the forum know Mel Clarke? If we have a contact, perhaps they could update us on her recovery?

[Andyakashrek]

The news item was only posted on web yesterday so I don't know how she is. There is quite a lot of info on the magnock.com site about her including several records set by her.

[clickerati]

A BBC article and photo of Mel Clarke from September 2005.

I don't know if she or anyone she knows is on the forum, but if they see this, I hope they send her our very best wishes and sympathies for what happened. It's times like this when I wish our little community could reach out and do something to help.

[JohnK]

Bloody hell, that's terrible.

I've met Mel - her coach is a member of another club not far from here. I don't know her well, but she struck me as being a great and approachable person, and a damn fine archer to boot.

Must send her a get well message through her coach. Thanks for the info chaps.

[clickerati]

John, I would be personally grateful if you would pass on an AIUK get well to Mel and let her know we're all behind her.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by clickerati

It's times like this when I wish our little community could reach out and do something to help.

Surely we can can't we? why not pass a hat at SoCo for some flowers / vouchers and post them to her- perhaps our actions can help in some small way.