has anyone on here seen anything about this ... [url=http:
//www.
sofiaecho.
com/2009/08/24/773906_scottish-couple-savagely-attacked-at-home:1ysxzucb][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Alan Cantwell, 64, and wife Sylvia, 63, were reported to be driving back to Scotland following the raid on their remote house near Pleven by "
four crazed brutes"
- who slashed their dogs to death.

Under the headline "
Scots flee from Bulgaria brutes"
, the newspaper reports that Cantwell and his wife were sleeping when they heard their dogs barking.

According to their daughter, Yvonne, "
He (Alan Cantwell) was gone for a while then one of the gang kicked in the bedroom door.
He was huge and pinned mum to the bed. He held a machete to her face, screaming: 'Money, money, money!' Mum said they didn't keep cash in the house and handed over all their cards and pin numbers. But he screamed abuse in Bulgarian while the other three trashed the house."


The Sun reports that Cantwell was then tied up in the garden and repeatedly hit with a pickaxe handle. The couple's dogs were butchered. The paper also reports that after Yvonne had alerted police and identified a member of the gang, the intruders returned to wreak revenge but found the house abandoned because the couple had moved from their home - described as being in a rural area - into a hotel.

It doesn't make for good reading especially for those who are thinking of moving to Bg, even in the UK this wouldn't happen ?
:roll:

Hi Sarah I just read your post here and my heart goes out to both of them, although I have to say that while I was in Bulgaria I didn't see or hear anything like it, everyone I met both Bulgarian and other were very kind and polite, but it just goes to show that we need to be in Bg for sometime before we really get to know it ?

Netsniper

Yes heard this story, not sure how much is true and what is hype though....

But people should take note. What area you buy in is very important and the village.

You should not just look at property on price alone. I have just had a couple staying here that had picked out loads of places to view up in north Bulgaria on basically price and photos of houses alone. One they reckoned was only around 7000 E for a semi renovated house but then price had dropped to 2000 E because it had been stripped over everything, even wires....they were still really keen and wanting to buy it blind....warning bells should start if something is too cheap - could be very bad area, poor village, lot of problems.....

There are many areas of Bulgaria (as in most countries) that I simply would not touch with a barge pole.

Sounds like good advice to me, I did wonder when I read it how much of it was fact and how much was the press hype ? but I think as you say if it sounds to good to be true then avoid it, as there is no such thing as a free lunch so to speak, great advice and much appreciated

sarah

Following on from the article by the Sofia Echo here is an article from the SUN

Two recent reports of violence against British residents and holidaymakers in Bulgaria will not have created good publicity for the country at a time when its tourism industry is suffering the fallout from the global economic crisis.

The most harrowing piece appeared in the August 24 edition of the Scottish Sun. The story - written by David Goodwin - reported that a British couple had decided to return to the UK after they were savagely attacked in their home near Pleven on August 7 by a gang of machete-wielding thugs who also slaughtered their dogs.

The paper carried graphic pictures of injuries sustained by Alan Cantwell, 64, after his beating at the hands of the robbers.
Under the headline "
Scots flee from Bulgaria brutes"
, the newspaper said that Cantwell and his wife, Sylvia, 63, were sleeping when they heard their dogs barking.

The couples daughter Yvonne is quoted as saying that while her father investigated the noise, one of the gang kicked in the bedroom door, pinned her mother to the bed, held a machete to her face and demanded money.

The Sun said that Cantwell was subsequently tied up in the garden and repeatedly hit with a pick axe handle. The paper said that after Yvonne had alerted police and identified a member of the gang, the intruders returned to wreak revenge but found the house abandoned because the traumatised couple had moved from their secluded home into a hotel.

According to the paper, the gang also swooped on the home of another British couple who had helped the Cantwells contact the authorities. Both couples had decided to return to the UK following the raid. At the time of writing, the Cantwells had reportedly arrived back in Scotland.

Hotel hostages
Meanwhile, an earlier report in The Sun, dated August 18 and also written by Goodwin, related how a female tourist and her three "
terrified"
friends were held hostage in Bulgaria - by hotel security guards.

Under the headline "
Cheeky Bulgars held us hostage"
, the story relates how a gang of "
burly minders"
ridiculed the four friends after ordering them to cough up "
ransom"
cash during a 90-minute ordeal.

Sally McQuade, 24, was quoted as telling the paper: "
It was just horrible. They just would not let us go."

The newspaper claimed she was enjoying a two-week break in Sunny Beach with boyfriend Paul Ross, 27, and friends Shannon Strathdee and Lana Bourquin, both 20, when they were accosted.

According to the Scottish Sun: "
The friends had been allowed to use facilities at a hotel next door, due to faults at their own accommodation at the Sunny Beach resort. But as they walked back to the Yavor Palace Hotel at 4am on Monday (August 17) they were grabbed and accused of trespass. Sally told how the guards ordered them to stump up 100 Bulgarian leva each for their freedom - before finally settling for 40 leva."


McQuade, of Grantown-on-Spey, Moray, is quoted as saying: "
We were trying to find out what the problem was but one of them kept saying, Shut up, shut up
McQuade added: "
Afterwords they just sat with the receptionist of our hotel and laughed, joked and pointed at us."


Bulgarian-language news website Dnes.bg quoted representatives of Yavor Palace hotel who said that they knew of the incident but had no information about the Scots being asked to pay a fine.

The hotel, however, said that the Scottish holidaymakers had flouted hotel regulations, including a ban on jumping over the concrete wall of the hotel, instead of using the main entrance.

"
We have set a 50 leva fine for people who make noise during the night, such as jumping in the pool or using the green areas as lavatories,"
said the hotel. "
Tourists are allowed almost everything except for making loud noise and breaking doors, which we get a lot here. In the past year alone we have had close to 30 cases of doors broken by tourists,"
the hotel management said.

The hotel also commented on what it described as "
the low standard"
of behavior of many of the British tourists in the resort.

UK taxpayers subsidies Bulgaria
Perhaps surprisingly, neither the violent assault nor the "
hostage-taking"
featured in the Daily Mail, one of the most prominent "
Bulgar-bashers"
of all British media over the past few years.

But the newspaper, perhaps mindful of resentment against the EU by cash-strapped Britons, was quick to draw its readers attention to a tax increase next year.
"
Every household in the UK will have to pay 257 pounds sterling towards the European Union next year,"
according to a report written on August 24 by James Chapman, after - the newspaper claims - "
Labor signed away much of Britains hard-won budget rebate"
. The newspaper said that Bulgaria and Romania would top the list of recipients.

"
As usual, the bulk of the budget will go on aid to the EU's poorer countries and agricultural subsidies. This year Britain will pay 4.1 billion pounds net to the EU - 800 million pounds more than the 3.3 billion pounds forecast by the Treasury, By 2010-11 the net figure will be 6.4 billion pounds,"
says the newspaper.

The article concludes by saying that "
increases have been caused by extra demands for funding by new members, including Bulgaria and Romania"
.

Well first lets remember this was in the Sun, known for sensationalising stories (or just plain making them up). Newspapers pick up on stories in other places and then run them with their own spin....

Most of Bulgaria's EU funding has been stopped due to corruption and it going in the 'wrong direction'. Many EU agricultural grants have been discontinued, money for roads has been reduced or stopped.....

Do you know how much money the UK goverment wastes through DEFRA each year - sending letters telling you to expect a letter, cock ups with ESA maps and subsidies.....

While there is obviously something behind the story about the Scottish couple, British have a terrible reputation for causing trouble with drunken behaviour in Sunny Beach. Brits abroad never do themselves in favours....

I don't think it is restricted to the sunny beach or Brit tourists. Some of the resident British community are just as bad if not worse. I was in a restaurant 2 weeks ago when a drunken brit shouted abuse at a waitress, refused to pay his bill because he wanted more beer and his outburst continued with "
why the F**k can't you speak English. Totally annoyed at my evening being spoilt, I interviened, calmed him down, took his wallet and 50 leva, paid the waitress and sugessted he leave before I called the police, thankfully 2 of the people I was out with are built like Geoff Capes so he didn't argue.

Would these people behave like it in their own country, probably not

Bill

Sadly these types of incidents happen all over and not just in BG it happens in the UK as well but the target there seems to be old frail pensioners who get mugged, murdered and god knows what.
This incident may all be well isolated but the fact is that in the bigger towns you are gonna get trouble whether it be Sofia Burgas or Varna etc. We have like Bill from VT been in places where the brits are just down right rude to the staff in hotels resturaunts and the like.
What on earth happened to the words humiliatly and humanity, or is that forgotten just because we can't speak their language that's not their fault it's ours.

[size=75:2olx8y2q]Sofia echo 8 January 2010

Sadistic gang 'could be close to capture

STV (Scottish TV) is reporting that a violent gang who brutally assaulted a Scottish couple at their home outside Pleven in the Bulgarian countryside could be close to being brought to justice.

In August 2009, Alan and Sylvia Cantwell suffered a horrific ordeal when four robbers burst into their home and repeatedly struck 64-year-old Alan with a pickaxe handle and pinned Sylvia, 63, to her bed with a knife at her face.

The attack so terrorised the Cantwells that they were forced to flee their home, leave their possessions and return to Scotland. The gang, who stole a haul of jewellery, even butchered the couple's two bulldogs.

Following the attack, according to STV, Nikolai Zhelev, professor of medical biotechnology at Abertay University, offered his services as an intermediary to help them wade through the paperwork and liaise with the Bulgarian police. Now, over four months later, he has reported possible progress in the case.

"
I’ve been in touch with the Bulgarian interior ministry. They are looking at it very seriously,"
STV quoted Zhelev as saying. Zhelev then goes on to cite the recent arrests of the "
The Insolents"
as evidence of Bulgaria making strides in its attempt to bring organised gangs to justice, although "
The Insolents"
were reportedly connected to kidnappings rather than raids on remote homes in the countryside.

billfromvt wrote:

I don't think it is restricted to the sunny beach or Brit tourists. Some of the resident British community are just as bad if not worse. I was in a restaurant 2 weeks ago when a drunken brit shouted abuse at a waitress, refused to pay his bill because he wanted more beer and his outburst continued with "
why the F**k can't you speak English. Totally annoyed at my evening being spoilt, I interviened, calmed him down, took his wallet and 50 leva, paid the waitress and sugessted he leave before I called the police, thankfully 2 of the people I was out with are built like Geoff Capes so he didn't argue.

Would these people behave like it in their own country, probably not

Bill

Well done you, and if I am confronted with a similar situation I hope I have got a couple of Big Daddies or Geoff Capes with me
As we all know this sort of thing happens all over the world and it is all due to an illness called alcoholism
Would these people behave like this in their own country, probably YES, and let me just add that these type of people are like Jekyl and Hyde. Without excessive alcohol they are usually shy, polite, and helpful, to much alcohol in their blood and it's not that nice pleasant person it's the alcohol that has taken over and half the time they don't even know what they are saying. Alcohol also gives them a false sense of security

thetravelbug wrote:

Yes heard this story, not sure how much is true and what is hype though....

But people should take note. What area you buy in is very important and the village.

You should not just look at property on price alone. I have just had a couple staying here that had picked out loads of places to view up in north Bulgaria on basically price and photos of houses alone. One they reckoned was only around 7000 E for a semi renovated house but then price had dropped to 2000 E because it had been stripped over everything, even wires....they were still really keen and wanting to buy it blind....warning bells should start if something is too cheap - could be very bad area, poor village, lot of problems.....

There are many areas of Bulgaria (as in most countries) that I simply would not touch with a barge pole.

I think you know that this story is very true and if you saw the photographs of the horrific injuries inflicted and Alan Cantwell being trusted up like a chicken I think you will agree there is not much hype attached to this sad case

This is terrible but lets hope the perpetrators are flogged for it, if I had my way I would????? Cant say it here but I'm sure you all get the picture

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It is shocking that this kind of nastiness still goes on, not only in Bulgaria but here in the UK too, only it is not reported or highlighted as it would be in Bulgaria.

I remember reading this before. Again we will never really know the truth but at the end of the day, it does not matter how the papers portray it - This couple had their lives turned upside down, scared witless. Their beloved pets butchered by these brutes and for what!! money and possessions It is heartbreaking and totally malicious - How has society turned out such awful, people. How can anybody physically inflect hurt on another, whether it is a human or animal, it is totally beyond my comprehensions.

You can be sure this couple will never want to set foot in Bulgaria again and to be honest who would blame them. Sincerely hope they have managed to move on although it will take years to get over something like that.

Oddy

Lets hope they catch these people I know a lot has been said here and there about them but no one deserves to be treated like this and it will be years before they recover, if ever

sarah

I know what your saying Sarah and your right no one deserves to be treated like that, its just a shame that on another forum I use to visit they seem to think its what they deserve, and they call themselves Brits glad I left now