Judge locks up teenager who turned her back on him in the dock

A JUDGE was considering sparing a teenage criminal a custodial sentence until she turned her back on him in the dock.

Xena Randell, 19, was in court after pushing a 70-year-old woman to the ground in a row at a market. The teenager, who has a string of previous convictions, was arrested and admitted assault when she appeared at Warwick Crown Court on Friday.

Judge Anthony Potter told her: “In my judgment you are a bully. I have no doubt that lady was smaller than you, and you intimidated her as much by your presence as by your actions. Pushing with force a woman old enough to be your grandmother is disgraceful. I am far from convinced you don’t deserve a prison sentence now, but it might be worth giving you a chance at a stage when your mother has given you a home.”

However, at that point Randell turned her back to him and refused to turn back. Judge Potter told her: “I’m not going to read into this any desire by you to do what you say if you are not prepared to turn round and look at me.”

He adjourned the case and remanded Randell, of Walsall, West Midlands, into custody, adding: “Whatever acts the juvenile court have taken, she’s in the crown court now, and the crown court will not be bullied.” Randell attacked the woman, who suffers from osteoporosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at Wellesbourne market, near Stratford-upon-avon, Warks, last August. At the time of the attack, she was the subject of a suspended sentence for assaulting a police officer.

Turaj Hodge, defending, said: “She suffers an inability to cope with stressful situations because of the very difficult upbringing she’s had, and when she perceives she’s under threat, she reacts violently. She felt under threat from [the 70-year-old] who accepts she called her a selfish cow, and in response Miss Randell pushed her because of a perceived threat.”