‘Robbed him of his only independence’: Tennant Creek local leaves town after thefts, assaults

Sisters of a Tennant Creek wheelchair user are fundraising to move him to Queensland after a series of break-ins, thefts and assaults ‘robbed him of his only independence’.

The family of a man who has lived in Tennant Creek for more than 30 years is urgently fundraising to get him out of town after a series of break-ins left him unable to sleep at night.

Joanne Pepers said her brother-in-law Greg “Wheelie” Jordan had lost his “sense of safety and independence” after the latest break-in saw his custom made accessible car stolen and destroyed.

“The community had fundraised for this car with hand controls and a wheelchair lift and the lot and they’ve just trashed the whole lot,” she said.

“They’ve taken away any independence he had, he’s having to have people stay with him at night.”

Ms Pepers said Mr Jordan, pictured, had gone through “at leat half a dozen, probably more” break-ins and “just wants to sleep at night.”

Ms Pepers said Mr Jordan, who has been a wheelchair user since he was in a car accident as a teenager, had gone through “at least half a dozen, probably more” break-ins in recent months.

“They come at night, when he’s in bed,” she said.

“He’s woken up and these teenagers are crawling over his bed to ransack his bedroom.

“They’ve tipped him out of his wheelchair and kicked the living hell out of him, they’ve assaulted his dogs.”

Ms Pepers has now started a GoFundMe to enable Mr Jordan to relocate to his sister’s home in Queensland.

She said after the latest break-in, Mr Jordan had “had enough”.

“The final straw was when they took his car last week,” she said.

“We just need to get him to safety.

“Unfortunately none of us are rich, we’re doing everything we can, we will donate on payday.

“It’s just heartbreaking, he’s been there 30 years, but he just wants to sleep at night.”

Mr Jordan’s move comes after an escalation in crime across the Territory, with businesses from Darwin to Alice Springs calling for urgent action on crime.

The latest NT Police statistics revealed that 1135 property crimes were committed in Alice Springs in January alone.

Across the Territory property crimes have risen by 20 per cent over the past 12-months to January, while crimes against the person also increased by 14 per cent.