After woman is attacked, legal net descends on Leeds beggars

Lyndsay Gudger. Below: a police CCTV image of men police they want to trace in connection with the attack

Police are pursuing legal proceedings against a group of people who illegally hassle the public for cash in the city centre.

The news comes after a vicious attack on a woman who refused to give cash to a beggar sparked outrage.

Lyndsay Gudger, 30, from east Leeds, was knocked unconscious and suffered a bleed on the brain after being assaulted by two men who confronted her when she walked past a man asking for change on a night out.

CCTV image of the men police want to trace in connection with an attack on Lyndsay Gudger.

Coun John Hardy, lead member for homelessness at Leeds City Council, said: “I’d very much like to offer sincere sympathy to Ms Gudger over this appalling, unprovoked attack and I understand the police are pulling out all the stops to catch the perpetrators.

“Begging is not an issue we take lightly and we, alongside the police, are committed to tackling the problem in Leeds.

“One way in which this is being pursued is by court action being taken by the police against a hard core of beggars.”

Miss Gudger has been in and out of hospital since her attack last month and has had to move in with her mother to help her look after her two young children.

Police are still looking for the two men who assaulted her.