A 20-yea-old Dundee man who attacked a 72-year-old disabled woman was yesterday sentenced at the sheriff court to 32 months in detention.
Sheriff Duff said he would have locked Jamie Stevens away for four years but for his early plea of guilty.
Stevens, a prisoner at Perth Prison, had previously admitted that on March 1 in Strathmartine Road he assaulted Moira Kelly, c/o Tayside Police, struggled with her and robbed her of a purse containing cash, cards and papers.
The court heard that Stevens told social workers he had not meant to assault Mrs Kelly but had been surprised by her resistance when he tried to snatch her bag.
His solicitor Kevin Hampton told Sheriff Duff that Stevens was concerned the accused’s statement to social workers might have given the impression the victim was somehow to blame for the assault, but he wanted to make it clear that was not the intention.
Sheriff Duff said, “She was feisty and that may have taken him by surprise.”
Mrs Kelly had just collected her pension when Stevens grabbed her purse as she walked with the aid of her three-wheeled walker. She had about £60 in a brown purse and a further £20 from a winning lottery ticket.
When Stevens struck, Mrs Kelly activated the panic alarm on her walker. During the struggle, he managed to open her handbag and steal her purse.
Mr Hampton said his client had a serious heroin addiction but this was his first conviction for violence.
Sheriff Duff said Mrs Kelly, who suffers from fybromyalgia and diabetes, is an elderly and vulnerable person. He noted that Stevens had been very uncomfortable when Mrs Kelly’s victim statement was read out at a previous court appearance.
The sheriff went over the impact of the attack, telling Stevens Mrs Kelly had been left taking painkillers for a sore neck, is frightened to go out and scared she will be robbed again.
She has been left wary of answering the door and has had to be given medication from her doctor to deal with anxiety. The victim statement, Sheriff Duff said, amounted to a “public pronouncement of your wickedness.”
Sheriff Duff said, “Your involvement in this crime was effectively a startling leap in seriousness in your convictions. You selected as a victim, quite deliberately, a vulnerable elderly lady, visibly so given that she was using a three-wheeled walker to get around.
“She had just collected money from the post office and you attacked her in this way. I have to approach this on the basis that only the imposition of a custodial sentence is appropriate.”
Stevens was given a 32-month sentence, backdated to March 3, to take account of his period in custody.