The victim offered Robert Smith a place to stay after he said he faced spending the night on the beach
A homeless man smashed a vase into the face of a friend who had offered him a place to stay for the night, a court has heard. Robert Smith then tried to drag the terrified woman into the shower to wash the blood off her face.
A judge told the 35-year-old defendant – who has more than 60 previous offences on his record – that over the years he must have cost “decent, hard-working people who pay their taxes” a fortune, and he told Smith that the time may have come for him to change his life and “pay back a little of what others have invested in you”. Smith replied “Yes sir”.
Samuel Jenkins, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on January 20 this year Smith was in the company of a family friend in Aberystwyth, and that after making comments about sleeping on the beach was offered a place to stay that night.
The court heard that pair talked and drank alcohol, and that at first there were no issues but then the defendant’s behaviour “inexplicably changed”.
The prosecutor said Smith began damaging possessions in the victim’s house before arming himself with a knife and screwdriver. He said the defendant then picked up a vase struck the woman to the head with it, causing the vase to smash on impact.
The court heard the complainant started bleeding heavily from a wound to the forehead and the defendant then tried to drag the “terrified” woman into the shower to wash the blood off.
The police were called and when officers arrived they found Smith asleep on the sofa with a knife and can of alcohol on the floor next to him. Smashed objects lay strewn around the room. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
The defendant was roused and told officers “I have done nothing wrong” before becoming verbally aggressive towards them. Due to his behaviour he was taken to the ground and arrested.
The court heard the victim went to Aberystwyth’s Bronglais Hospital with a 3cm-4cm wound to her forehead which had to be cleaned and glued shut. In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the woman said the attack had exacerbated her already existing depression and anxiety, and said it has “profoundly effected” her day-to-day life.
Robert Smith, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and to damaging property when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 20 previous convictions for 61 offences including assaults by beating and criminal damage. At the time of the assault he was subject to a two-year community order for battery.
Dean Pulling, for Smith, said the defendant had been assessed as having “significant, multiple, and complex needs” including ADHD, depression, anxiety, and psychosis, and had suffered several traumatic deaths in the family as well as a serious brain injury which had required emergency surgery at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
He said Smith had previously held down jobs – including one with Network Rail – but said his difficulties were “exacerbated by his entrenched and chronic drug misuse” and he noted a pre-sentence report had concluded that the defendant was no longer suitable for intervention in the community.
Judge Geraint Walters said that over the years the defendant must have cost “decent, hard-working people who pay their taxes” a fortune, and told the defendant the time may have come for him to change his life and “pay back a little of what others have invested in you”. Smith replied “Yes sir”.
The judge told Smith that only he could make the necessary changes, and said if he did not he would turn around one day “to find life will have passed you by”.
With a 20 per cent discount for his guilty pleas Smith was sentenced to 12 months in prison. The judge revoked the community order the defendant was subject to and re-sentenced him to three months in prison for those matters to run consecutively making an overall sentence of 15 months. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice
You must be logged in to post a comment Login