Woman, Stacie Bastable has spoken of her horror after being beaten with a police baton by her cousin, Reece Cooper at a family gathering.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bastable said the gathering was in remembrance of two relatives who died during the pandemic.
The 33-year-old was left with a broken neck and is still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after the ‘appalling’ attack by Reece Cooper in April last year.
According to reports, the then 18-year-old turned up at the family event in Wolverhampton with alcohol and armed with an extendable baton, which he used to hit his cousin and two other women, including Miss Bastable’s daughter.
Although Cooper initially denied the offences, he pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon, and two offences of assault by beating, and was jailed for three years this week.
Miss Bastable, from Kidderminster, suffered fractures as a result of the assault and was fitted with a special halo neck brace for nine weeks to help recover from her injuries.
But she has also suffered from PTSD, and has had to leave her job as a civil servant – the first time she has not had work since she was a teenager.
The mother-of-four while explaining the impact of the attack on her said, “He was like a wild animal. I knew straight away my neck was broken as I had to hold my head up with my hands.
“It’s totally changed my personality, I used to go to the gym every day after work but now I really struggle to go.
“I can’t face the prospect of going back to anything at the moment, I just know I’m not ready mentally.
“I panic over silly little things, like walking down the stairs, conscious that I might trip and break my neck again. I’m constantly on alert mode.
“Even when my daughter’s hugging me, I panic that it will be too tight and hurt me.
“I’m struggling with other people now as well, if a member of my family can do something like that, how can I trust someone else?
“It’s put a real strain on the family, I hardly speak to anyone who was at that gathering now.”
Sentencing Cooper, now 20, Judge Michael Chambers QC said it was “an appalling assault causing appalling injuries.”
He added, “You went to a family party armed with a serious weapon. During the course of that party, you attacked and assaulted a middle-aged woman by striking her repeatedly to the neck causing fractures and as a consequence, she suffered grave and life-changing injuries.”
The defendant was sentenced to a young offenders’ institution for three years. He must serve half before being released on licence.
