Lowlife Paul McNeill dragged an 81-year-old woman to the ground and caused her to bang her head in a sickening street robbery.
The desperate drug addict spotted the pensioner standing resting near a Newcastle shop early one morning as she waited for newspapers to be delivered. He approached her from behind and yanked her shopping bag so hard he caused her to fall to the ground and strike her head on the pavement.
As the 43-year-old serial criminal, of Wilfred Street, Byker, Newcastle, who has more than 100 previous convictions, was locked up at Newcastle Crown Court, the victim, now 83, told how she has been left afraid to leave her home as a result of the attack.
The court heard the victim had walked to her sister’s home early in the morning on December 6 2022 before setting off through Shieldfield to a Tesco Express store on Stoddart Street, where she arrived around 6.45am. On being told the newspapers had not arrived yet, she decided to wait outside nearby for a few minutes to see if they came.
The court heard she is hard of hearing and didn’t hear McNeill approach from behind but felt someone pulling on her shopping bag. Sue Hirst, prosecuting, said: “He pulled on her bag multiple times and she tried to hold onto it.
“He eventually pulled with sufficient force she fell back and hit her head on the pavement. The defendant wrestled the bag from her and made off.” Inside the Tesco bag for life he had stolen were the victim’s purse containing £60 cash and some vouchers, house keys, some of her sister’s clothing and a Christmas card containing £30 cash.
The shocked woman went into Tesco, where she was looked after by staff until police arrived. She said in a victim impact statement: “This incident has knocked my confidence and I feel frightened in the dark.
“My sister has mental health issues and I would quite regularly go and see her. Since this occurred I’m scared to leave my flat.”
Keep up to date with all the latest court news from the North East with our free newsletter
McNeill was spotted on camera entering Linda Youens’ block of flats around 7am with the victim’s bag. He then gave Youens the stolen bank card, the court heard. Shortly before 7.15am, Youens went into a Nisa store in Sandyford with the stolen bank card and bought cigarettes and scratch cards. She then made two further unsuccessful attempts to use the card.
Police had circulated CCTV of the robber and a police officer who has dealt with McNeill before recognised him. Youens was then identified from CCTV in the shops.
McNeill, who has 113 previous convictions, including for two robberies in 2009 and robbery in 2014, pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for four years and ten months. Youens will be sentenced for her fraudulent use of the bank card at a later date.
Judge Penny Moreland said: “The defendant, seeing an old lady who would be unable to defend herself, targeted her. This was someone who before this offence was active and outgoing and is now scared to leave her home. The impact on an older person can be catastrophic.
Rachel Hedworth, for McNeill, said he is remorseful and said the offence was not premeditated. She added: “This was something that happened on the spur of the moment.
“He was taking boatloads of class A drugs and was desperate. He came across this poor lady and behaved as he has. He has struggled with addiction since he was a child.
“Matters had spiralled completely out of control at the time. He was homeless and his drug addiction was outside any normal limit even for a drug addict.
“He is trying to qualify as a samaritan by doing a listener course. He is desperate to rehabilitate himself, he is sick to death of being in prison
“He feels completely sickened by what he has done, in the cold light of day. He knows just how bad his actions were.”
Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp community for all the latest court and crime news sent direct to your phone.
In this private group, you can expect the day’s top court and crime stories, including breaking news and live blogs
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, affiliate content, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN