Elderly Samaritan's life ruined by attack that broke her leg
THE LIFE of an active elderly woman was ruined after she was seriously injured by a drunk woman she had stopped to help, a court heard.
Barbara Jones, described by a senior judge as a Good Samaritan, was an active 75 year-old who lived independently, helped look after her grandchildren and worked as an RSPCA volunteer rescuing stray cats.
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Sarah Nute
But prosecutor Alastair Verheijen told Plymouth Crown Court that all that changed after she was violently pushed to the ground by Sarah Nute, breaking her thigh.
Mrs Jones had to have a hip replacement operation, and in a victim impact statement read to the court described how the assault had affected her life.
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She said the three months after her operation were "hell", and the impact on her life was ongoing.
Mrs Jones said she had been forced to give up her voluntary work, could no longer visit the city centre and was afraid to go out in case she fell again or encountered Nute.
She now slept in her living room, could no longer get upstairs unaided and was unable to clean, cook, put food in the oven or look after her grandchildren, her own daughter now having to help her daily.
Mr Verheijen described how on February 17 last year, Mrs Jones was going shopping by taxi when she saw Nute in distress and wailing, sitting on some steps.
When she returned 20 minutes later, Nute was in the same state, shouting and screaming, and Mrs Jones stopped the taxi, approached and asked if she was OK or needed help.
Nute, who had an almost-empty bottle of wine beside her, leapt up and pushed her hard with both hands on the chest and neck.
Mrs Jones fell, fracturing her left thigh and felt immediate pain.
Mr Verheijen said Nute staggered away but was arrested nearby.
She gave "no comment" answers to all police questions, but in a prepared statement said she was not the attacker.
She changed her plea to guilty of grievous bodily harm on the morning of her trial.
Mr Verheijen said Nute, aged 25 and now of Totnes Road, Paignton, had previous convictions for violence and being drunk and disorderly.
Ali Rafati, for Nute, said his client had a long history of drink problems and had argued with her boyfriend after visiting him at a Plymouth bail hostel.
She was disgusted with her behaviour and had not had a drink since January, he said.
Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Nute: "You caused grievous bodily harm to a 75 year-old lady who deserved your gratitude for her kindness, not to be subjected to serious injury as a result of your violent behaviour.
"She was a Good Samaritan, but three months later she was still in a lot of pain and her life has changed dramatically for the worse."
He jailed Nute, who wept in the dock as her actions were described, for 20 months.
Comments
by aimeenute
Wednesday, September 19 2012, 8:44PM
“Exuse me, I am 'Nute's' younger sister. I dont aprriciate the way you have spoke about my sister, you've said stuff as if she's a piece of ****, which she isnt. You lot dont know the full story or even the truth, so how dare you judge her like that. She isnt 'scum' or a 'lowlife', so shut up. How do you know this woman isnt doing this conpensation? yeah, you dont. Also, why the hell do you bring my parents into this? they've tried to get all the help they can for my sister and no ones helped what so ever! and 'benifits' hahah, you having a laugh? my dad has been working from the ages of 15 and he is now 55 and still working, we've never claimed benifits in our lifes. Writing all of this is absolutely pathetic of you, when you dont know the truth. My sister is very caring, she never meant for this to happen, you dont even know if she did do it? this woman could have fell. Yeah this woman was trying to 'help' but it could have been anyone coming up to you, in the dark it must have been a bit scary? obviously you wouldnt know that because you dont know who my sister is!!! so sit down and shut up, im proud of who my sister is.”
by Pablosi
Tuesday, May 15 2012, 10:36PM
“I cannot believe that these people get out of jail so soon. Sentences are not what they are claimed to be. We should know the minimum time someone will spend in jail. These sentences are the maximum time and that is NEVER served. They are lying to us.”
by webbdog27
Tuesday, May 15 2012, 3:28PM
“Evil vile lowlife scumbag hope you get a massive kicking for what you have done,l will quite happily do it for free,*****”
by ceebeeone
Tuesday, May 15 2012, 1:16PM
“...and will no doubt be making babies - pre- book those Borsatl places....”
by ineedtherapy
Tuesday, May 15 2012, 12:22PM
“"Nute" - A lying piece of low life scum who has no place in a civilised society.
The boyfriend is in borstal...they must make a lovely couple
less than a year they'll probably both be back on the streets scrounging benefits and being nothing but a financial burden and physical threat to the rest of us
Get well soon Mrs Jones, you have my deepest sympathy”
by ThePFJ
Monday, May 14 2012, 9:45PM
“....and don't forget ivanovski we could always cut the cost of keeping a criminal in jail. It currently costs more to send someone to jail than it does to go to Eton. Why is that!!! because we have middle class hangers on who make their livings from the gravy train that is publically funded liberal justice. 'What about their human rights' .....that will be 40K per annum please.”
by neeneeoil
Monday, May 14 2012, 7:04PM
“It´s newt not nute!”
by ivanovski
Monday, May 14 2012, 5:12PM
“We often heard it said on the media, by the usual suspects like the Howard League etc, that the cost of keeping people in custody is very expensive and "wont do them any good" I have always felt that this misses the point but the BBC never seems to find anyone to put an opposing point of view.
Firstly there is the high cost of NOT keeping recidivist criminals in custody and the experience of this poor lady is a case in point. The main, and often overlooked benefit of jail is that whilst the offender is in there the rest of us have a holiday from their activities. It is only in recent times that the argument that prison must reform people has come to the fore. The main benefit is prevention of crime in the community whilst they are locked up and that requires much longer sentencing and an end the the smoke and mirrors of sentencing policy that has resulted in life sentences averaging about seven years. In the 1950's when capital punishment for murder was being abolished the promise made by politicians ( yes you are right we should never believe them ) was that the alternative was life imprisonment and that
" life would mean life. "”
by ThePFJ
Monday, May 14 2012, 9:41AM
“She doesn't have complex needs, she has simple needs - Alcohol.
A 20 month sentence will mean she will be walking the streets well within 10 months. Drinking again.”
by braveneworld
Monday, May 14 2012, 5:08AM
“My heart goes out to Mrs Jones, whose life has clearly been upturned since she was a victim of such needless and mindless violence.
I cannot help but feel though, that this kind of incident will only increase, in a society that increasingly fails to look after its most troubled members; they are left to fend for themselves, and without proper education or facilities that can meet their complex needs, will be ever more likely to end up in situations such as this, where they bring such trouble and heartache upon both themselves and on innocent victims such as Mrs Jones.”