Heartless thieves trash grieving widow's home
A grieving widow says everything she loved has been destroyed after vandals attacked her home while she was on holiday.
It was a devastating return for Sue Bradley, who arrived home after a four-week trip visiting family in the UK following the death of her husband.
"It's heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. Everything I loved is gone," she said.
Her home was trashed by callous vandals who stole just $4000 and a small television set.
"They knew I loved music," she said. "All the things that I love, they've smashed."
Methodical and cruel, they used Mrs Bradley's own block-splitter, taken from her backyard, to smash through her home, destroying her fridge, freezer, washing machine, plus an open fireplace and television.
They ripped apart her kitchen, destroying appliances and snapping her marble bench top.
The heartless bandits also used spray paint to cover her walls, beds, curtains, carpets and precious family photos.
The bathroom, caked in graffiti, now resembles a Melbourne lane way.
"I just couldn't believe it as I walked through the house," Mrs Bradley said. "That somebody could do that."
Most heart breaking of all, an urn containing her late husband's ashes was dumped on the bedroom floor.
"Those ashes were meant to be scattered with me," she said. "That's interfering with a corpse in my book, it's worse than that."
The pony breeder has lived in the property for five years, slowly renovating almost every room except the bathroom.
After the death of her husband, a month overseas was a chance to spend time with her family.
Friend Annette Astall looked after her ponies while Mrs Bradley was gone and was shocked by the scene that greeted her today.
"I never saw anyone. I never saw anything suspicious," she said.
The damage bill runs into tens of thousands, not to mention the hours it will take to clean up the mess.
"My whole world has just been turned upside down and at my age it's hard to come back from something like that.
"I'm scared in this house now."
