Drunk who assaulted Solihull pensioner who was looking after him is jailed
A DRUNK who pushed over a Solihull pensioner who had taken him into her home, breaking her arm, has been jailed for three years.
Leon Brian Russell, aged 33, of Redfern Close, Olton, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the pensioner. Judge Richard Bray told him it was “an appalling piece of violence.”
Prosecutor Raj Punia said the 63-year-old woman, who has restricted mobility and suffers from brittle bones, had known Russell for about six years.
In February, Russell was in urgent need of accommodation and she agreed to allow him to stay at her bungalow for two or three nights.
It was revealed at an earlier hearing that Russell had been involved in a dispute at his home which it was alleged led to someone making a threat to kill him, and as a result he wanted to get away.
She took him in but Russell spent the following day drinking, Miss Punia said.
Then as the pensioner came out of the bathroom at about ten o’clock that evening, he stood in her way and told her: “You bitch. I hate women.”
He then pushed her, and she fell to the floor, breaking her arm.
Miss Punia added that it was not until the following day when the injured pensioner’s son arrived that she was able to get help.
She told her son what had happened and he ordered Russell to leave and took her to hospital where she was treated for her broken arm, which it was anticipated would take up to eight weeks to heal.
Andrew Tucker, defending, said Russell had not intended to injure his victim, and regreted what happened.
Judge Bray told Russell: “You assaulted this 63-year-old woman who had invited you into her home when you were homeless, and you repaid her by drinking from the moment you came into the house.
“She was vulnerable, with brittle bones, and you pushed her to the ground, breaking her arm.
“This is an appalling piece of violence.
“You cannot start pushing a lady of 63 with brittle bones in her own house when you are drunk. There has to be a substantial custodial sentence.”
