A THUG who attacked his elderly neighbour with a zimmer frame after beating her black-and-blue had his sentence cut by top judges.

Walter Robert Usher, 61, used Carol Devaney “like a punch bag” after flying into an unexplained rage as the two shared a drink at his Almondbury home in October last year, Lord Justice Rix told London’s Appeal Court.

He repeatedly punched her to the face, causing bruising which was “terrible to behold”, said the judge.

And he finished off his attack on the 63-year-old by picking up a zimmer frame which he pressed against her neck “causing bruising to the throat and chest.”

Ms Devaney was in hospital for four days and was lucky not to lose the sight of one of her eyes. But despite the ferocity of Usher’s attack there was little lasting damage suffered.

Usher, of Fernside Crescent, Huddersfield, was jailed for 27 months at Bradford Crown Court in April this year after admitting assault causing actual bodily harm.

His case reached the Appeal Court as he challenged the length of his sentence which Lord Justice Rix yesterday day cut to 18 months.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Treacy and Mr Justice MacDuff, observed that Ms Devaney was in poor health at the time of her ordeal. Usher was also not well and was awaiting a hip replacement operation when he lost control.

The zimmer frame could not in legal terms be viewed as a weapon, said the judge, although it “cannot be factored out of the circumstances.”

However, he said there was no pre-meditation involved and the 27-month prison term was simply too long, the judge concluded and he allowed the appeal.