A YOUNGSTER apologised to a pensioner after she spoke publicly about how her life was being made a misery by gangs of yobs.

The teenager sent a handwritten letter to Georgina Dominy after she told the Oxford Mail yobs would bang on her door, throw stones and shout abuse at her.

Now Mrs Dominy, and other residents of Witney’s Thorney Leys estate, have thanked the Oxford Mail and our sister paper, the Witney Gazette, for raising the issue.

Residents said their lives were no longer being made a misery by the gang since the story was published in April.

At the time, Mrs Dominy, 64, said she was too scared to turn lights on in her home at night, for fear that she would be targeted by the gang.

The mother-of-three, who also wrote to Witney MP David Cameron about the problems, said: “I can’t thank the paper enough – if it wasn’t for the article, we would still be suffering.

“I want to thank the police for their help, but if it wasn’t for the paper it would have gone rolling on.

“It was going on for about two years but it wasn’t until we were in the paper, did things start to get better.

“It’s no problem whatso- ever now. It’s absolutely wonderful. You can go in at night and we don’t have to worry about a thing.”

The handwritten note she received said: “I didn’t realise how much it was hurting you until I read the Witney Gazette. I hope we can put the past behind us and get on with our lives.”

Mrs Dominy, who is retired, said: “It has been absolutely wonderful. They’re just not there any more knocking on my door and ringing the bell. I thank the police for keeping them away.

“The police started to arrest people, rather than moving them on. It’s wonderful now, I’m over the moon.”

Insp Mark Johns, of Witney police, said officers regularly patrolled the area.

He said: “It’s about targeting the ringleaders and taking a robust approach to anti-social behaviour. We targeted our patrols in the right place at the right time and we spoke to local residents.”

Neighbour Lyndy Gough, 44, said: “You can go out and leave the house without being worried about what we would come back to.

“I think the article gave the youngsters a shock – I think they were shocked to see what they were doing.”

The parade of shops nearby had also been targeted. Christine Tsang, owner of TSE Fish and Chips, said: “For the past three years it just got worse.

“They would sort of challenge me by doing stupid things, calling me names and would swear at me.

“Sometimes we were just stuck in the shop like prisoners, as when we would go out we just didn’t know what they would do. The other shops had the same problem. But since the paper came out, it helped a lot.”