Attacker’s sentence is branded ‘ridiculous’ by frail victim aged 84

AN ELDERLY woman who suffered an “utterly cowardly and vicious” attack at the hands of a drug addict has branded his sentence “ridiculous” after it emerged he could be back on the streets in less than three years.

Burly Jason Forrest, 31, had been desperate for money to fund a heroin addiction, and targeted frail 84-year-old widow Catherine Henderson in her own home.

He forced his way into her flat in Hilltown, Dundee, and pushed her to the floor. He sat astride her and rained punch after punch on to her head and body, while demanding to know where she kept her cash. He left her battered and “in an awful mess” and fled with just £80.

Forrest was yesterday sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment – but will be eligible for parole after serving half the term.

And last night a tearful Mrs Henderson branded the jail term “ridiculous”.

She said: “As I was lying on the floor that night, I just thought, I am going to die. . To me, five and a half years is ridiculous because he won’t be in for that length of time. I hope I never meet him in the street. I can’t even think about that. I’ve never been right since – he left me in an awful mess.

“When I’m out now, I just think, I can’t wait to be in the house again. You try to be OK – but you’re not.”

Mrs Henderson, a devout Catholic, said her faith and the support of her family had been the only things which had helped her through the past few months.

Her daughter, Sandra Adam, 61, said: “Five-and-half years should mean five-and-a-half years. I personally think he should have got ten. This has devastated our whole family.

“My mum used to be really independent and happy-go-lucky. She would go everywhere herself, but she’s not the same now and everybody worries.”

The judge, Lord Bannatyne, flinched as he studied photographs of Mrs Henderson’s injuries at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He told Forrest it was a truly appalling crime against an elderly woman in her own home where she had every right to believe she would be safe.

Lord Bannatyne noted that Forrest was a very large, well-built young man, while his victim was small and frail.

“It was an utterly cowardly and vicious attack... and clearly has had a major effect on her,” said the judge.

Forrest would have been jailed for seven years and six months, he added, but was given a two-year discount for pleading guilty.