Victim plans to sue over vicious beating

Apr 30 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

A CHURCHGOER beaten to within an inch of his life last night revealed plans to sue his attacker. Gerard Smith was getting ready for a Sunday morning church service when he was lured outside his home and assaulted so viciously his family were told he was unlikely to survive.

Despite that, the man who attacked him was spared jail when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court earlier this month.

Mr Smith now feels so badly let down by the criminal justice system he is taking civil action to sue for loss of earnings after he was forced to take time off from his £30,000-a-year job to recover.

He and his wife Sheila say they are determined to get justice, even if it leaves them bankrupt.

Kenneth Robson was spared jail and given a 12-month suspended sentence for the brutal assault in Twizell Avenue, Blaydon, Gateshead.

The beating happened in March last year after Mr Smith, 47, had loaned £2,000 to Robson’s girlfriend, Karen Down, and made attempts to get it back.

As Mr Smith prepared to go to a service at St Anne’s Church in Winlaton, Robson called at his house, removed his glasses and subjected him to a beating that broke four ribs, punctured a lung and damaged his spleen.

His injuries were so severe that he spent five days in the high dependency unit at Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital and doctors told his family members to say their goodbyes.

Having admitted causing grievous bodily harm, Robson received a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Disgusted with the result, Mr Smith and his wife are currently looking for legal representation as they turn their attention to pursuing a civil case against Robson and Down.

Mr Smith was working as a £30,000-a-year purchasing manager at food flavouring company Frutarom UK Ltd when the attack happened and had to take eight weeks off work. He wants to sue for loss of earnings as well as for physical and emotional damage, and the original £2,000 he lent out.

Mr and Mrs Smith say they are living in fear after the attack and moved five times in the four months immediately following it.

“We are always looking over our shoulders,” Mr Smith said.

“How can somebody who beat me that much, so that my life was hanging in the balance for five days, effectively walk away free?

“I nicely asked for the money back and I got a beating.

“I feel as if my good nature was taken advantage of. A woman needed financial help, so I helped her, and I almost ended up six feet under. You will never get me helping anyone ever again.

“Most nights I just can’t sleep and I still have recurring nightmares. It is like it happened yesterday.” Mr Smith, a senior buyer, has a 20-year-old son, David, from a previous relationship and has been involved with St Anne’s Church in Winlaton for around 10 years.

He married former cashier Sheila, 40, earlier this month. She also has a child with a previous partner – 19-year-old Melissa Thornton.

Mr Smith’s son David alleged in court that he answered a phone call from Robson shortly after his father was attacked, during which the attacker made threats to kill. Robson agreed that a call was made but disputed the fact that threats were made, saying rather that he was drawing a line under the affair.

But Mr and Mrs Smith firmly believe they are still in danger.

“It’s been hell on earth for us and this judgment has made it worse,” Mrs Smith said.

“We can’t allow that kind of thuggery to rule our lives, but it’s so hard.

“Psychologically, I don’t think Gerard will ever recover.

“Gerard is a very timid man and he would do anything to avoid confrontation – he is not a fighter.

“This guy beat him so badly we didn’t know if he was going to make it.”

A tearful Mrs Smith said they would fight to their dying days to see some form of justice, even if it was to leave them bankrupt.

“If we give them one sleepless night it will be worth it,” she said. “They have given us plenty.”