A court has heard how Douglas Rogers was caught beating his girlfriend in the street when he turned his vicious attack on a passer-by
A woman who desperately called 999 as she witnessed a dangerous thug beat his partner in the street was then subject to a violent attack herself. Douglas Rogers paused his assault on his first victim as he turned on the Good Samaritan and smashed her head with a hammer.
A court has heard how the woman thought she was going to die and “screamed for my life” when Rogers cracked her skull with a hammer, raining down four blows to her head. The wicked abuser has now been jailed for nine years for the violent assaults on both victims, reports Chronicle Live.
The victim recalled how she came across Rogers and his partner, who was terrified with blood on her face, in a scuffle in the street. The woman asked the stranger to call the police, yet as she did so, was punched by Rogers.
As he was sentenced and branded dangerous, she told the court how the attack in Sunderland has left her traumatised and scarred. In a victim impact statement, she said: “I went to help her because I heard her screaming. I was acting as a Good Samaritan and I never thought by helping her I would be in danger.
“I was viciously attacked and I thought I was going to die. I ended up being taken to hospital by ambulance with serious injuries to my head.
“(A child) saw me being attacked with a hammer, being hit repeatedly in the head and screaming for my life.”
She added that she now has tinnitus, suffers daily constant headaches, has PTSD, some of her scars are visible due to hair loss in those areas and she is anxious and conscious about that. She told the court: “I think about this attack and how it’s affected me every day and I have flashbacks.
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“This has not only impacted me but my family. My mam thought she was going to lose her child.
“I can’t live my life like I did before the attack. Every day I look in the mirror and see the scars, the scars I got for being a Good Samaritan.
“I didn’t do anything to the girl but try to help her. I did nothing to the man who attacked me, I don’t know why he attacked me.
“He was so calm while hitting me numerous times with the hammer. I never thought by helping someone I could end up being the victim of a serious assault.”
The court heard Rogers had been in a relationship with the first victim for around a year. On Saturday September 27 last year, having called at a pub, when they got home she said he “seemed a bit off” with her, as if he wanted an argument. He went into the kitchen and the woman heard a smash and saw a bowl had been broken on the floor and Rogers was angry.
She removed items, including her father’s motorbike helmet, and took them to the bathroom, fear he would cause further damage. Rogers followed her and punched her to the face and side then hit the helmet with a hammer on a number of occasions before taking her phone and hitting that with a hammer, smashing it.
The court heard the victim was terrified, crying and screaming as he waved the hammer towards her then used it to smash a TV. The woman ran to the front door but couldn’t get it open and Rogers pinned her against a wall using his forearm across her throat with so much force she couldn’t breathe properly and felt that if she moved, her neck would crack.
She screamed for help but Rogers put his hand over her mouth to stop her. The woman then seized an opportunity to run out of the house but he followed her and there was a tussle in the street.
The second victim then walked out of a bike lane and asked what was going on. Rogers’ partner, who had blood on her face, asked her to call police and she did so.
Andrew Walker, prosecuting, said: “While she was on the phone to the police, the defendant punched her to the face, causing her to stumble. She then saw him go to a nearby house and he emerged carrying a hammer.
“He then approached her and hit her about four times to the head with the hammer.”
The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance and was found to have an open depressed fracture to the right side of her skull along with a number of lacerations to her head caused by the hammer.
Rogers, then went on to smash his then-partner’s car window and windscreen with the hammer, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, strangulation, battery, two counts of criminal damage and possessing an offensive weapon.
The court heard the 49-year-old has 25 previous convictions, including for wounding with intent in 2005 and wounding in 2019.
Recorder David Brooke KC jailed him for nine years, with an extended licence period of a further four years due to him being dangerous. He told Rogers he is “high risk” and said: “These are very bad offences indeed and they are set against a background of an appalling record for violence. This was a disgraceful incident.
“I hope you are thoroughly ashamed of yourself. She went merely to help someone who was in distress and you responded by attacking her in a horrible way, striking her four times to the head, causing a depressed fracture to her skull.”
Christopher Morrison, defending, said Rogers is “extremely sorry and remorseful”, apologises for his actions and has mental health issues.
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