Leeds General Infirmary elderly patient left with PTSD after being brutally attacked by a stranger

The 72-year-old woman was slammed against the wall and again to the ground in a completely unprovoked attack, carried out by Rory Freeman. She now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The victim had been discharged from LGI on May 30 last year and was walking along a corridor when she spotted Freeman, who has schizophrenia, behaving oddly. After a member of staff approached Freeman and spoke to him, he became angry and turned to the victim, telling her “it’s your fault.”

He grabbed hold of the elderly woman, who has a number of health conditions and was using a walking stick, slamming her against a wall. She described “bouncing off the wall twice”, Leeds Crown Court heard today. The victim said she was losing her breath and Freeman then grabbed hold of her again and slammed her to the floor. Her head hit the floor with force.

Mr Robert Galley, prosecuting, said the victim described feeling “immense pain to the right hand side of her body.” He added: “She was terrified, beginning to shake in her voice. She described that she felt extremely vulnerable. She thought that he was going to kill her.”

The victim was left with cuts, grazes and bruises to her elbow and hip. Mr Galley said the attack has had a “tremendous impact” on her life - she has since been diagnosed with PTSD and suffers from flashbacks of the ordeal. She said she has a “deep-seated fear of unknown men” and will often wake up in the middle of the night, fearing that someone will come into her house.

Mr Galley said: “This was a callous and unprovoked attack on a vulnerable elderly woman. Her worst symptom is the constant flashbacks since the assault, which she states are the straw that broke the camel's back.”

Freeman, 31, of Dewsbury Road, Leeds, was arrested on June 4 last year while he was back in LGI. He admitted the offence while being interviewed by the police but “couldn’t say why” he had attacked the woman, other than that he felt threatened by the elderly lady for a reason unknown to him. He pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at the earliest opportunity before the courts.

Freeman has seven previous convictions for 14 offences, including battery, exposure and attempted robbery. Mitigating for Freeman, Jane Cooper said he has been recognised as having schizophrenia for a number of years and has undiagnosed learning difficulties. Ms Cooper added: “On that day, he was behaving in a manner that shows he was unwell.”

Passing his sentencing remarks, Recorder Richard Thyne said it was likely that Freeman’s mental health “had a part to play” in the attack, but that some of his issues were “drug-related”. He concluded that as well as the “dreadful bruising” caused by the attack, the elderly victim was suffering from “terrible” psychological symptoms.

Freeman was jailed for 20 months.