Thug sent to jail for attacking a bedbound victim

CLAIM SHE BROKE OWN NOSE AND EYE SOCKET RIDICULED BY JUDGE

A THUG who attacked a “bedbound woman”, leaving her with fractures to her eye socket and nose, has been ridiculed by a judge for suggesting her injuries were self-inflicted.

Stephen King had denied headbutting the victim or striking her with the base of a lamp, as they argued when he visited her on Valentine’s Day last year.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court convicted the 39-year-old of inflicting grievous bodily harm, while acquitting him of a more serious, alternative count of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.

Andrew Peet, prosecuting, said the defendant’s visit to the woman’s home in Bottesford turned violent when he picked up her mobile phone and falsely claimed it was his.

This led to a tussle for the handset between the pair before King assaulted the woman, who had considered him to be her friend.

The victim, who is in her early 50s, told the jury she had mobility problems and spent much of the day in bed. She said she had known King for several years, since he began doing odd jobs for her.

They had occasionally been affectionate, but she claimed his attitude changed six months earlier when he began sending “horrible” text messages.

On Valentine’s Day, King was at her bedside as they fought over possession of her phone.

She said he head-butted and punched her during a “tug-ofwar” struggle.

The defendant then went to a shop to buy some vodka and returned like “a man with a mission to kill,” she told the jury.

The woman said when she tried to phone the police he struck her in the face with the wooden base of her bedside lamp “more than once” and she ended up covered in blood.

King, formerly of Granby Drive, Bottesford, claimed there was no head-butt, simply an accidental clash of heads, and he had not punched her.

He said there was no attack with a lamp and she must have caused the facial injuries herself, when he was not in the room.

He claimed the argument began when she asked if he had received any Valentine’s cards. King said she then falsely accusing him of taking her phone.

Sentencing, Recorder Benet Brandreth QC said: “The victim considered you to be a friend and you knew she was vulnerable.

“You attempted to obscure your role and lied throughout your evidence. Your suggestion a bedbound woman caused her own injuries was implausible.

“She described it as the worst pain in her life. A neighbour heard her screams.”

Natalie Goffe, mitigating before sentence, said the defendant had now lost his accommodation, due to being held on remand in custody, but he had taken part in courses and learned skills that would assist him on his release.

King was jailed for two-and-ahalf years.