Robber 'destroyed' woman's life in hammer attack
Northumbria PoliceA robber who left a woman with devastating brain damage when he repeatedly hit her with a hammer in her home has been jailed for life with a minimum of 28 years.
Heavily convicted Ross Clancy, 40, had only been out of prison for a month when he "savagely" attacked a couple in Newcastle in November, the city's crown court heard.
The 65-year-old woman had gone from enjoying a "vibrant" independence to needing constant care with her life "destroyed", the court was told.
Clancy, originally from the Sunderland area, admitted attempting to murder the woman and intentionally wounding her partner, as well as a string of robberies of betting shops in which he threatened workers with battery acid.
Drug addict Clancy, who had 76 offences on his record dating back to 2000 including for serious violence, was released on licence from prison on 21 October partway through a three-year sentence for house burglary, prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC said.
By the time he carried out the "ferocious" attack in Elswick on 21 November he was already wanted on recall for breaching his alcohol abstinence monitoring conditions, stealing a gold ring from a Benwell pawnbrokers and robbing a Sunderland betting shop of £140, the court heard.
'Terribly injured'
At about 18:00 BST, Clancy knocked on the door of the 65-year-old woman's home on Durham Street, kicking his way inside when she answered, the court heard.
Prosecutors had been unable to find any evidence Clancy and the woman knew each other but there had been rogue traders operating in the area who it was thought may have targeted her, while rumours were circulating among the area's drug addicts she had money, Makepeace said.
The woman's 60-year-old partner was upstairs when he heard the woman shout "I'm not going to pay you any money" followed by her crying out, the court heard.
The man went downstairs and Clancy "came straight at him" and repeatedly hit at the man's head with a hammer while shouting for money.
Clancy fled with the woman's car keys, taking her Renault Twingo to sell for £20 drugs money, the court heard.
The heavily bleeding man went to find his partner and discovered her "slumped on the floor" of their utility room unconscious and "terribly injured", Makepeace said.
The woman "essentially" had every bone in her head and face broken, the court heard, with a pathologist estimating she had been struck at least 10 times with the hammer.
'Quality of life erased
She remains in hospital requiring constant care, is cognitively impaired, permanently blind in one eye with limited speech and needing to be fed by a tube.
"Her quality of life has been permanently erased," Makepeace said.
The "most likely outcome" for the woman was she would need ongoing care in a residential home while facing a "significant risk of death" due to the impact of her injuries, the prosecutor said.
Her partner, who had been struck at least nine times, also suffered multiple head injuries.
He had made a "good physical recovery" but "continued to bear a real psychological impact", the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the man said the attack had been "ferocious" and the couple's "happy lives and routines" had "all gone".
The woman's 94-year-old father and 89-year-old mother said they feared for their daughter's future and felt helpless and heartbroken.
"The vibrant independent person she once was has been taken from us," her father said
"In her place is someone profoundly vulnerable, dependent on others for even the most basic needs."
'Intended to kill'
In the days after the attack, Clancy, who had been living at a hostel in Newcastle, attacked a friend in her bed with an iron after they took drugs together, robbed a bookmakers in Gateshead of £320 and attempted to do the same to another, the court heard.
He also targeted a petrol station and fast-food restaurant, on each occasion telling scared workers he was armed with battery acid and would attack them if they did not hand over cash, Makepeace said.
Judge Penny Moreland said Clancy "intended to kill" the woman and had "destroyed" her life with the "savage and brutal attack".
Her family had been left facing "incalculable grief and loss" while her partner was left "struggling to support her and deal with the consequences of what you did," the judge told Clancy, who appeared at court via video link from HMP Frankland.
Clancy was a "dangerous offender" who posed a "significant risk of serious harm" to others, the judge said.
