A Swindon mum said she was left feeling 'physically sick' after allegedly receiving racist abuse from a man who fitted her carpet.
Teresa Vertannes from Old Town wanted to furnish her new home for her five-year-old daughter to enjoy but instead had a hellish experience, she claims.
The 24-year-old single mother approached Mark Wheeler of M.L Carpets on Wednesday, April 5, to sort out the new carpet for her home.
They agreed, she said, to have new flooring put in on the stairs and bathroom, as well as two bedrooms. She paid £750 in cash upfront.
But Teresa said she was left far from impressed with the workmanship after it was finally installed following delays.
“He came into my house, laid the carpet and left it stuck up and left all the cut-offs for me to sort,” she said.
“He left nails on the carpet and outside the door which led to my daughter’s foot being cut and bleeding.
“I was panicking as I’ve tried saving as hard as I can to be able to do this."
Unhappy with the service, Teresa confronted Mr Wheeler by leaving several audio messages on his phone about the poor work.
But the mother said she later discovered that the man had filmed himself responding aloud to her voice messages with racist insults, in video clips which were then published publicly on Facebook.
“He spoke over my voice notes on Facebook and publicly published them as well as my personal phone number,” she said.
In the video, which the Advertiser has seen, the man can be seen calling the mother a ‘foreign f*****g c**t’ and a ‘foreign black b*****d’.
Teresa said the abuse left her feeling 'broken' and feeling unhappy in her own body.
“My whole life I have suffered racism and I’ve been called everything,” said Teresa.
“I’m so sick of being in my own skin.
“All I wanted was a cosy home for my daughter and the abuse has crumbled me. I don’t feel like I can even work when I’m under this amount of stress.”
Teresa reported the incident to the police.
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: “We are investigating after receiving a report of a racially aggravated public order offence on April 13 on a social media platform.
“A man in his 40s from Swindon has been interviewed under caution.
“No arrests have been made.”
When approached by the Adver for comment, Mr Wheeler hung up the phone before all the claims were put to him.
“I’ve not been charged, I’ve had enough of this,” he said.
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