Drug addict jailed for attacking Accrington grandma

10:58am Friday 25th July 2008

A VIOLENT drug addict who brutally attacked a disabled grandmother in the toilets of a fast-food restaurant has been jailed for 5½ years.

David Ellis, 23, beat 52-year-old victim Jean South, of Accrington, with such severity paramedics thought she had been in an horrific car crash.

The ruling brought an end to seven months of emotional turmoil for Mrs South, who said she was pleased with the sentence handed out at Bolton Crown Court.

Ellis, who was drunk and high on class A drugs at the time of the offence, was given four-and-half years for robbing the mother-of-three and a further year for burgling St Gabriel’s High School, in Bridge Street, Bury, this March.

He also admitted burgling 14 other schools and an office. Those offences were taken into consideration by the court.

Sentencing, the judge, Recorder Holyroyde, told Ellis, of Whitefield Road, Bury: “Clearly this was a vicious attack on a woman whose life you have had a profound effect on.

“Her asthma has got worse and she suffers from insomnia, stress and anxiety and seven months after this horrible incident, she still has dental treatment and will do for an estimated six months. For that you must be punished appropriately.”

The court heard how on December 17 last year, Mrs South and her husband Leonard, aged 70, were in their car heading towards their Accrington home when they stopped at the Bridge Hall Industrial Park in Heap Bridge.

At about 12.20pm, Mrs South, who is registered disabled and suffers heavily from asthma, went into the ladies’ toilets in Burger King - about the same time as Ellis’s girlfriend.

When Mrs South went to leave the cubicle, she was startled to find the door forced towards her, hitting her.

She was then confronted by a man who punched her about the arms and legs and told her: “Don't scream, or I’ll kill you.”

The man demanded cash and, as her purse was in the car, Mrs South only had £20. With blood pouring from her mouth from the earlier blow from the door, she handed it to the man.

But the court heard he was not satisfied, and continued to kick and punch her and searched her pockets. Mrs South said that was the last she could remember before passing out.

It was 20 minutes before a bruised and battered Mrs South emerged from the toilets. Burger King staff called the police who obtained CCTV evidence and put out a photograph of the attacker.

After the hearing, Mrs South told how her dental injuries were so serious, she had to spend Christmas drinking out of a straw.

“I had to lie to my grandchildren on Christmas Day and say I’d fallen over. I lost a tooth and another one was forced into the back of my mouth when I was punched,” said Mrs South.

She added: “My top lip was hanging off by the time I’d reached hospital. One of the paramedics was asking me if I had been in the front seat of a car without a seat belt - he thought I’d been in a serious car crash because my face was in such a state.”

Mrs South had to have four hours of treatment at Fairfield Hospital and was later treated at a dental clinic in Blackburn.

After four months of investigation, Bury Police got their man on April 21, thanks to a tip off from a member of the public who had seen the picture from the CCTV.

Defending Ellis, Mark Friend QC said: “He has offered his sincerest apologies to the victim and feels deeply remorseful about what he has done.”

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