An alcoholic thug, jailed for a ‘cowardly and disgraceful’ attack on a disabled teenager in Dewsbury has been told by top judges his ‘severe’ sentence was richly deserved.
Simon Brooke, 46, of Flash Lane, Mirfield, was caught ‘red-handed’ as he tried to mug 19-year-old Fenton Shaw outside the teenager’s home in Thornhill Lees and jailed for just over five years in March this year.
Mr Shaw, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was getting a bus home from college in February when Brooke struck up a conversation with him.
But when he got off the bus and made his way home, Brooke demanded his rucksack and attacked him outside his house.
Brooke, who was ‘intoxicated’, grabbed the teenager’s bag so hard his wheelchair toppled to the ground, trapping him underneath it.
Mr Shaw’s father and brother came out of the house to help him and restrained Brooke until the police arrived.
His injuries were minor but he had been ‘severely affected’ by the attack, the judge said.
It had taken him considerable time to build up the confidence to go out on his own and travel on the bus before the incident.
Since the attack he is reluctant to go out, suffers flashbacks every time he looks out the window and feels ‘very vulnerable’, the court heard.
Father-of-one Brooke, who has a ‘serious addiction to alcohol’, had previous convictions for benefit fraud, theft and handling stolen goods.
He admitted attempted robbery but was not given full credit for his guilty plea as he had been ‘caught red-handed’.
The crown court judge said he had acted ‘cowardly and disgracefully’ and jailed him for five years and three months at Leeds Crown Court on March 4.
His lawyers argued his jail term was far too tough as it was not the worst offence of attempted robbery, given the lack of serious injury to the victim and the fact no weapon was used.
But, dismissing his appeal, Lord Justice Beatson said the disabled victim had suffered ‘psychological harm’ as a result of the planned and targeted attack, which was committed in view of others – including the victim’s father and brother.
Sitting with Mr Justice King and Mr Justice Males, he added: “This was undoubtedly a severe sentence.
“However, we consider the judge was entitled to conclude the circumstances of Brooke’s offending called for a deterrent sentence, because of his targeting of this seriously disabled young man and the degree of psychological harm suffered by this young man.”
