Lone Hayling Island woman in street claims she is subjected to gender abuse by 'sexist pig' with a 'lunging' dog

Lynn Tolmon told The News she was ‘shocked’ after suddenly being on the receiving end of ‘gender aggression’ as she walked her dog along Legion Road in Hayling Island on Monday just after 9am.

Whilst minding her own business, the 42-year-old mum suddenly found herself fearing for her safety from the ‘sexist pig’.

Lynn said the man shouted over telling her to put her dog on a lead before calling her a ‘stupid b****’.

But Lynn stood her ground before the man suddenly escalated matters. ‘He went and got his big snarling and growling labrador dog - which was pulling him because he was so weak.

‘He then said to his dog: “Go on, get them.” He couldn't control the dog. It tried to come towards me and lunged at me.

‘He used his dog as a weapon to try and intimidate me.’

Lynn continued to stand firm before the man ‘stomped off’ having followed her to her car.

A woman, who witnessed the incident, came over to see if Lynn was ok before urging her to call the police.

Lynn contacted the police via an online form with all the relevant details - including stating it was a gender based attack.

But the mum was left angry after police told her they would not be taking the matter further after concluding its investigation.

Lynn, speaking amid the murder probe into Londoner Sarah Everard’s death, said: ‘I just can’t believe that in the week when a woman has been killed after walking the street, police are effectively just saying “look after yourself”.

‘This incident to me happened near a park and two schools where there are a lot of parents, most of whom are women.

‘It is not appropriate behaviour for that man - or for the police to do so little.

‘While the Met Police were searching for Sarah, Hampshire police is refusing to protect women in the street.

‘I have had to find a new route to school and can no longer use the Legion Field park because the safety of women in the street isn't a priority to the police, it's down to us to keep ourselves safe.’

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Lynn added: ‘It’s really hard when you suddenly don’t feel the streets are as safe as you thought they were.

‘Moving to Hayling Island from Liverpool I felt I was in a much safer environment but it’s been a real shock to have a man swear at me and try to intimidate me and use his dog as a weapon in broad daylight.

‘It’s a real shock to know women are not as safe here as I thought they were.’

A police spokeswoman confirmed the ‘investigation has been closed.’

In the authority’s response to the online form submitted by Lynn, police said they were not taking further action after considering different factors including the vulnerability of the victim, severity of the offence, likelihood of it being solved and the most effective use of resources.

‘All of these factors determine which reports are investigated further,’ the reply stated.

‘Unfortunately, this incident is not likely to lead to formal outcome. Without CCTV with sound or sufficient independent witness evidence, we would struggle to prove what happened or prove who was responsible.’

Lynn replied to the police stating she believed the man had broken the Dangerous Dogs Act and had committed a public order offence. She also told police they had all relevant details to probe the matter – including a witness account.

She added in her reply: ‘If gender is important enough a factor to be asked in the online form, it would be so nice if the force actually took gender based aggression more seriously in practice.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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