A man has been jailed for an unprovoked attack on a 78-year-old woman with dementia, leaving her with a broken wrist and a fractured vertebra. Dean McLellan, 38, shoved the pensioner to the ground outside a shop in Hebburn, south Tyneside, after she stopped to chat about his baby.
Attack outside Hebburn shop
The victim had been engaging in a friendly conversation with McLellan, who was with a woman and an infant, when he forcefully pushed her. She fell heavily onto the concrete and was rushed to hospital. McLellan, who has 21 previous convictions including robbery, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
CCTV showed McLellan, shirtless and carrying a bottle, speaking to the pensioner before she gave him an item, believed to be money. He then entered the Best-One shop. Prosecutor Richard Herrmann said the woman with the pushchair hugged the victim, and their conversation appeared "perfectly friendly and good-natured".
Court hears of devastating impact
Newcastle Crown Court was told the pensioner, who previously enjoyed getting out and socialising, is now unable to hold a cup of tea, feed and bathe herself, and struggles to get dressed. The court heard McLellan shouted "get out of my way" before the attack and walked away, apparently unconcerned that the "physically slight and obviously frail" pensioner lay injured.
Mr Herrmann said: "She stood in front of the pushchair and bent down and engaged with the baby. The defendant came out of the store and stood behind the pushchair while she was leaning in front of it. She stood up and within a second or so the defendant, who can be seen to be a large and powerfully built individual, moved a step to the side of the pushchair and, without any warning whatsoever, with his right hand pushed or shoved [the victim] with sufficient force to cause her to fall backwards onto the ground."
Judge condemns 'despicable' behaviour
Judge Thomas Moran said any right-thinking person viewing the CCTV would question "what sort of person does that?" and added: "Shame on you for such despicable behaviour." The judge told McLellan that the woman's "very active social life" had been brought to "an end" by his attack.
The assault was described as "wholly unprovoked and wholly unjustified and unjustifiable". McLellan was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
