Mary Loader, the 65 year old granny who was seriously injured in a beer bottle attack whilst out fruit picking on Sunday morning, is still gravely ill after a three hour operation on Sunday to repair her damaged face.

Police have released sickening photographs of her injuries which included massive bruising, a shattered cheekbone and a broken nose. They’re very shocking and out of respect to Mrs Loader and her family we won’t be showing them here.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to her.

This unprovoked and senseless attack on a defenseless woman is a sad indictment of a society that is deteriorating more and more every day. A society where alcohol abuse is out of control and people have no sense of consequence or responsibility for their actions,  where a grandmother can be almost killed by a half full beer bottle at 8.30 in the morning.

We hope the police catch those responsible but doubt that the justice system will deal with them appropriately, any sentence they’re given is unlikely to be punitive or act as a deterrent to others.

Anyone wishing to convey their respects to Mrs Loader and her family can send a get well card to her at Tauranga hospital or leave a message on the Trademe community board

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=250286

We’ve said before that one may judge the character of a society by how it treats the weak, the vulnerable, the most easily forgotten. Abuse of the young and the old is widespread in NZ, recent attacks on elderly people include:

• Gaynor Alice White, 62, battered to death with a hammer by an intruder in her home in Parkland, Christchurch

• A 72 year old man left shaken and bruised after being robbed at gunpoint at his home in Beerescourt Rd Road, Hamilton

• An 82 year old woman kidnapped and robbed whilst shopping on W.Tamaki Road, Auckland

• Grandmother Barabara Julian, battered to death by an intruder in her Kaitaia home

• Lois Dear, 66, murdered and sexually assulted in her classroom at Tokoroa primary school

• An elderly woman was physically and sexually assulted in her Eltham home

• Retired teacher John Rowe, murdered by two teenage girls in his Opotiki home

• An 83 year old woman who was assaulted and her home set fire to in Howick

• An elderly couple who were hopsitalized after a home invasion in New Plymouth

• An elderly man kicked to the ground and assaulted by a truck driver in Manukau

• An 85 year old man badly beaten during a home invasion at his Bethesda Village retirement home in Wiri.

• 86 year old Patricia Burrows was left with a fractured pelvis, cuts and bruises after she was mugged in a Christchurch shopping mall

• Yin Ping Yang, 80, died following a savage attack during a home invasion in Manurewa East that lasted for several hours.

• A 99 year old woman who was sexually assaulted in her Palmerston North home and died in hospital

See also:

“NZ a more dangerous, more violent place“ –  “Violence and drug-related offences are largely responsible for increased crime rates, according to 2009 crime statistics released by police today”

Booze fuels a massive leap in crime and family violence : “A massive rise in family violence and more drunken teenage girls fighting in the street are features of shocking crime statistics for Hamilton and Waikato released today.”

Family stunned alleged drunk driver in crash bailed twice :  justice system has given family a “kick in the guts”