WOMAN CALLED PENSIONER A ‘PAEDO’ BEFORE SHE LAUNCHED AN ASSAULT

Attacker was found with knife by police

A DRUGGED-UP woman had a knife in her pocket when she branded a pensioner a ‘paedo’ before assaulting him.

Cassandra Harvey called the victim an offensive name after he went to check on her welfare.

Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard the 28-year-old then tried to force her way into his back garden, knocking the OAP to the floor.

Police were called to the scene, and they found her with a bread knife with a serrated edge.

Now Harvey has been jailed for 10 months.

Prosecutor Peter Mccartney said a 14-year-old boy saw Harvey sitting in an alleyway, in Sandyford, at midday on July 30.

The boy’s grandad went to the gate to see if Harvey was okay, but she called him a ‘paedo’.

Mr Mccartney said: “He asked her to leave and go home. She reacted angrily.

“They returned to the garden and closed the gate. She kept repeating, ‘I am having you’.

“She kicked at the gate about five times, causing it to swing open and knocking the pensioner to the ground. He put his feet against the gate to stop her opening it.

“She put her left hand in her pocket. She was very angry and aggressive.

“The pensioner was very frightened. His grandson was able to fasten the lock. He helped his grandfather to his feet.”

The pensioner was shaken up, but did not need medical treatment.

The court heard the victim’s wife called their son, who tracked down Harvey and challenged her before calling the police.

Mr Mccartney added: “She was sweating and not making any sense in her speech. The officer could not smell alcohol on her breath. He formed the view she was under the influence of drugs.”

Harvey, of Moston Street, Birches Head, pleaded guilty to having a knife in public and common assault.

Robert Holt, mitigating, said: “There was no use of the knife during the course of the common assault. The knife was never produced in anger.”

He added that Harvey has undergone a detoxification in custody.

Judge David Fletcher said: “This sort of behaviour is simply going to lead to longer and longer sentences.”