Woman blinded in acid attack is beaten up by yobs

A MOTHER who lost her sight in a sickening acid attack 20 years ago has been mocked and beaten by a gang of yobs just 500 yards from where she was blinded.

Louise Duddy, 48, was left horribly disfigured in the assault on Hutchison Place committed by a friend of her husband, Gordon Modiak, who paid the man £3000 to hurl a pint of sulphuric acid in her face.

And now – just a short walk from the crime scene – Ms Duddy has again fallen victim to a heartbreaking ordeal in which a gang of youths taunted her about her disability before striking her to the ground with a blow to the back. Detectives are appealing for witnesses to the attack, which took place at Hutchison Crossway at around 2.30pm last Saturday and saw a member of the public come to her aid before Ms Duddy contacted police the following day.

Residents said officers had been making door-to-door inquiries in an attempt to identify the culprits.

One local, who would often see the former hairdresser and model walking in the area, spoke of her shock at the “disgusting” incident.

She said: “To overcome what she’s been through over the years and for this to happen is just so cruel.

“Everyone knows about Louise and what happened to her so whoever did this must be sick.

“It’s bad enough when they pick on the elderly but for this to happen to a blind woman is something else.”

A former neighbour, who declined to be identified, said she was appalled that the attack had taken place in what she called Ms Duddy’s “own back yard”. She said: “I’d heard something had happened but I didn’t realise it was to Louise.

“That’s a terrible shame. It’s horrible that people would think to do that to someone who’s a bit vulnerable like she is. There’s nothing funny about what happened to that poor woman. She must be upset, I hope she wasn’t hurt.”

Speaking about the attack, a Police Scotland spokesman said: “This was a cowardly assault on a defenceless woman who was unable to identify her attacker.

“As such, we would ask anyone who was in the area on Saturday afternoon and remembers seeing anything suspicious to contact police immediately.

“Similarly, anyone with more information that can help officers with their inquiries is also asked to come forward.”

Ms Duddy’s ex-husband Modiak and hired hitman Kelvin Greenhalghse were sentenced to 20 years for the attack in which Ms Duddy’s two young children, Deane and Ryan, were also left with injuries.

She met her future husband when she was just 16 and fell pregnant a year later. Eight years her senior, Ms Duddy claims Modiak was violent and stopped her from seeing her family and friends.

She eventually left him but a court order insisting he stay away from his former partner was ineffective and on February 13, 1991, her life was changed forever when the man Modiak hired to throw acid into his ex-wife’s face carried out his cruel attack while he watched from a car nearby.

When he was released in 2004, Modiak acknowledged his crime but said he was “no monster” and “didn’t mean to blind” his wife.

The News made repeated attempts to contact Ms Duddy without success.