A 13-year-old girl from Borehamwood was savagely beaten by two older girls in Shenley Road on Tuesday.

Nicola Wright was walking past the Oxfam shop at 8.15pm on Tuesday when she saw two older girls, aged around 17 and 20 years, stealing bags of clothes and toys that had been left outside the shop.

When she confronted them, the 17-year-old beat her with a shoe, leaving her with a cut to her cheek, a black eye and bruises. "I said it's not right to steal from a charity, and she said: 'this girl's getting lippy.' She took off her shoe and struck me around the face with it."

Nicola's friends tried to help, but the 20-year-old girl threatened to kill them if they intervened. Speaking from her home on Wednesday, Nicola said she was now afraid to go out, in case she was the victim of another unprovoked attack.

Her mother, Debbie Wright, said: "I have never known Borehamwood to be so bad. You don't expect this kind of thing to happen to a young girl at 8pm, but you have got to watch your back these days in Borehamwood. It never used to be like that."

Both the older girls had Irish accents. The 17-year-old was around 5ft tall and pretty, and had long, dark hair. The 20-year-old had long curly hair. They were driving a maroon Vauxhall Cavalier, which a third girl was driving. Witnesses should call police on 020 8905 1212.

October 2, 2002 16:00