Man (43) who beat disabled neighbour in row over phone charger jailed
A MAN who launched a prolonged and vicious attack on a disabled neighbour over a mobile phone charger was jailed for six and a half years yesterday.
Mark Howie (43), from Sperrin Park in the Waterside area of Londonderry, pleaded guilty to a single charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on his vulnerable victim, Sydney Harold Olphert, on April 1 of last year.
Mr Olphert, who was in his 60s, died six months after he was attacked in his home, but his death was not related to the injuries inflicted on him by Howie.
Both Mr Olphert and Howie were alcoholics and Howie launched his attack after they had a drunken argument about a mobile phone charger.
Mr Olphert, several of whose family members were in Londonderry Crown Court for the hearing, was found the next morning by a friend, slumped on his living room sofa, covered in blood. Substantial amounts of his blood were found on the ceiling, floor and on his walking stick.
Mr Olphert told the police “it was yer man upstairs” and Howie opened the door, dressed only in his underwear. Officers found his bloodstained clothes inside his washing machine.
Howie was arrested and on his way to the police station, he told the police: “Yer man came at me with a walking stick.
“He hit me across the head and on the arm.
“I then must have lost the head and beat the f*** out of him.”
He also told the police he blanked out after the attack and woke up the following morning covered in blood.
He claimed that he did not return to Mr Olphert’s flat after the attack because he was scared of what he might see.
Howie, who has spent a total of 15 years in prison for other offences on a record of 74 criminal convictions, has been assessed as being marginally short of dangerous.
Judge Philip Babington listed the multiple injuries sustained by Mr Olphert, which included significant facial swelling, a laceration to the left eye, bruising to his chest wall, left arm and left shoulder, a compression of a vertebrae and fractures to his face, ribs, left arm and finger.
Judge Babington said the photographs of the injuries were “testimony to the ferocity of the attack”. He said the court had previously been told by a defence lawyer that Howie immediately admitted his guilt and expressed remorse. Howie also said he was both disgusted and ashamed of what he had done to Mr Olphert.
Judge Babington said it was a sustained and violent attack on a vulnerable victim, who had mobility issues, which took place in Mr Olphert’s home, using his walking stick.
Howie made no effort to get assistance for Mr Olphert, but Judge Babington said he was entitled to some credit for pleading guilty and had expressed remorse for his actions, both to the police and to a probation officer.
He said: “There is no doubt that this was a devastating attack on Mr Olphert.
“It must have continued for some period of time and the aggravating factor of just leaving Mr Olphert there overnight without calling assistance is very significant,” he added.
Judge Babington then imposed the six-and-a-half year sentence and told Howie that if he had contested the matter and been convicted, he would have been jailed for in the region of 10 years.