D-day veteran left for dead by bogus builder pins blame on himself
A VETERAN who played a key role in the D-day landings has blamed himself for an attack in which a bogus builder left him for dead, claiming his training should have helped him.
Jim Booth, 96, pointed the finger at himself following the assault at his Taunton home on Nov 22 that left him in a life-threatening condition with multiple skull fractures.
The Royal Navy veteran, formerly a lieutenant commander, claimed he was “just too old” to deal with the situation after Joseph Isaacs, 40, attacked him when he answered the doorbell.
Mr Booth, who joined the Navy aged 18 and served throughout the Second World War, said: “I think I probably just defended myself.
“But I’m very much saying I blame myself because I was special services, you know. I think I should really have known how to deal with this, but I didn’t. I was too old, obviously.”
The great-grandfather was attacked when Isaacs came to the door claiming to be a builder and offering to fix some broken roof tiles. When Mr Booth declined, Isaacs pursued him through a passageway in his home, hitting him several times with a hammer until he collapsed bleeding heavily.
Isaacs, of no fixed address, was found guilty of attempted murder at Taunton Crown Court and handed a 20-year extended sentence. He had denied intending to kill Mr Booth, claiming he had gone to the house to get money for food, but was convicted by a jury of seven women and five men.
Isaacs had earlier admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent, aggravated burglary and six allegations of fraud in relation to the attack.
In his victim-impact statement, read by Rachel Drake for the prosecution, Mr Booth described the ongoing effect of the attack, saying he now suffered from “severe head pain” ranging in severity from “just about coping to having to lie in bed all day”.
He added that injuries to his hands had affected his organ playing and said he was no longer able to be “as hands on as he would like” with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Judge David Ticehurst told Isaacs: “It was a brutal and utterly senseless attack on him. Jim Booth was 96 years old, living on his own but with remarkable independence and vigour.
“That your crimes have had such a devastating and damaging impact on them is something you should reflect upon in the years before you.”
Speaking about the legal proceedings, Mr Booth added that he felt “quite sure” what Isaacs did was attempted murder. Despite the attack, Mr Booth added that “worse things happen at sea, as they say, in war”.
Mr Booth is the only survivor of a crack 10-man team who spent five days underwater in two mini subs before the D-day invasion of 1944. The daring operation helped guide Allied landing craft to Sword Beach on the Normandy coast instead of drifting on to rocks.
He and the team spied on Nazi troops across the shorelines before shining beacons across the sea to guide Allied forces through the treacherous rocks.
In 2015, he was photographed dancing with the Duchess of Cornwall at an event in London to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ (Victory over Japan) Day. Mr Booth’s daughter, Vicky Pugh, read a family victim-impact statement to the court, at times becoming so emotional that she struggled to continue.
In it, she called her father a “wonderful person” who had dedicated himself to caring for his wife Berry, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, for 10 years before her death in 2009. Ms Pugh said: “She couldn’t have had a more loving and devoted husband. In the years since we lost our mother, our father has immersed himself in taking an active part in the community, leading an extremely busy and independent life.”
Ms Pugh said since the attack he had been forced to miss family events and could no longer use his bicycle, while there seemed to be no treatment for his debilitating head pain.
Speaking outside court, Ms Pugh added: “On Nov 22 last year, a light was shone on the very best and the very worst of humankind when my father was subjected to a brutal and cowardly attack inside his home.
“Miraculously, though left for dead and against all the odds, he survived.
“In the very difficult six months since, our father has shown extraordinary courage and determination as he has battled with the pain and the longterm effects of the injuries. He is truly inspirational.”
‘I think I should really have known how to deal with this, but I didn’t. I was too old, obviously’