Man admits assault on disabled pensioner Alan Barnes

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/24/man-admits-assault-pensioner-alan-barnes

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A man who has admitted assaulting a disabled pensioner in an incident that prompted a flood of online donations for the victim was a user of so-called legal highs.

Richard Gatiss shoved Alan Barnes, 67, who is 4ft 6in, frail and visually impaired, as Barnes put out his wheelie bin in Gateshead on 25 January. He suffered a broken collarbone.

Gatiss, 25, of Gateshead, appeared before Newcastle crown court via video link from Durham prison and admitted assault with intent to rob.

At a previous hearing at Gateshead magistrates court, details of which could not be reported at the time, the prosecutor Keith Laidlaw said: “Legal highs played their part in this. There is also possession of cannabis on his record and there is a drugs background.”

Gatiss forced Barnes to the pavement outside his home in Gateshead and told him to hand over his money, but his victim said he had none. The mugger ran off when Barnes shouted for help.

Northumbria police traced Gatiss after recovering forensic evidence left on Barnes’s jacket pocket. The attack was motivated by a need for money for drugs, the previous hearing was told.

At the crown court, Jamie Adams, defending, said his client had been separated from other inmates in prison because of the strong feelings his crime had aroused.

“He wishes me to say at this stage that he is shocked, horrified and deeply ashamed of what he did,” the barrister said. “He has not stopped thinking about Mr Barnes since this awful deed.

“He is very conscious of being in the public eye and everyone not just gazing at him but glaring at him. It is having a deleterious effect on his wellbeing. Necessarily, he is segregated in prison because of the way people feel about him.”

The judge, Paul Sloan QC, the recorder of Newcastle, adjourned the case to allow reports to be prepared, and told Gatiss that jail was likely. Remanding him in custody, he said: “You will appreciate that an immediate custodial sentence is pretty well inevitable in the circumstances.”

Reports of Barnes’ plight prompted a local beautician, Katie Cutler, to set up a fundraising page aiming to raise £500. Donations quickly flooded in from wellwishers as far afield as Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and the total now stands at more than £330,000.

Asked whether he could forgive his mugger, Barnes told BBC Radio 4’s PM: “I can, but I don’t want to go too far. I don’t want to meet him, because other people might think I’m sort of condoning what he’s done. I just leave that up to the law to deal with. I just want to get on with my life and move on.”

Barnes said he was “overwhelmed” at first by the scale of the public response to his misfortune: “It just seemed a bit like a dream. I’m sort of getting used to it now after these few weeks, but at first it was just unbelievable.”

He said he had received cards from all over the country and as far away as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which had reached him despite having only his name and the address “Gateshead, England” on the envelope.

Asked how he was spending the money he had received, Mr Barnes said: “I need a new home to live in and then I want to keep some for a rainy day. I haven’t reached a decision on all the money yet, but I definitely need a new house, so that will be some of it.”

Meanwhile, Cutler has used her global fundraising profile to encourage donations to help other good causes. The fundraiser said: “It gives you a warm feeling inside when you help people.”