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Blind date pests leave family in a blind rage

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Police are baffled by the months-long doorstep harassment of a London Jewish family.

Widower Solomon David, from Southgate, says he is afraid to answer the door after receiving visits from different men, sometimes up to three times a day, for three months, each claiming to be meeting a blind date at the Davids' home.

Mr David, who was a full-time carer for his wife, Susanna, until she died in October, said: "Every time the doorbell rings, my heart starts beating. I'm afraid to put the lights on at night because I don't want to let people know we're here.

"It's turned into harassment now. I can't stand it anymore. It's our home, but sometimes it makes me want to move."

The family is perplexed as to the source of the visitors. Six months ago, a letter arrived from a mail order website suggesting that someone had tried to use Susanna David's personal details to purchase some items.

Some weeks later, a man rang at the door and ran away when Mr David, who has two sons, answered. A few days later, a different man appeared, asked for a girl and also ran away.

Since then, men have been calling regularly, sometimes two or three times a day, each claiming they had contacted different automatic dating services which put them through to the same girl. She would then give them the Davids' address.

The family believe that so far more than 30 men have arrived at their home. "We didn't know if it is a prank or something more serious," Mr David said.

The situation assumed an even more distressing aspect when just an hour after Mr David returned from his wife's funeral at Edgwarebury Lane cemetery in October, a man rang on the doorbell and asked for Susanna David.

"They gave all sorts of names at first, but when they used hers, it was the most distressing," Mr David said.

Also in October, one of the nuisance visitors repeatedly banged on the front door. The family called the police who questioned the man, but were unable to charge him with any crime. A police spokesman said: "We can confirm that the victim has been subjected to several unsolicited and unwelcome visits in the past few months.

"While most of these seem to have been benign in themselves, one or two have not; there is clearly a larger issue here which we are trying to solve."

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