Birmingham Man Jailed For Attacking Vulnerable Care Home Resident

3 June 2019, 15:42 | Updated: 3 June 2019, 16:19

A man who burst into a dementia-suffer's care home room and battered the helpless 60-year-old with a lamp has been jailed for 12 years.

David Debney assaulted Denise Crowton, who was unable to walk or talk, before carrying out a frenzied attack at The Ridings Nursing Home, in Castle Vale, Birmingham, in June 2017.

The seemingly motiveless assault on Miss Crowton, who needed round-the-clock care, left her with horrific facial injuries.

She died six months later of natural causes, unrelated to the incident, West Midlands Police said.

But officers said the attack had made her final days "even more intolerable".

Debney, 24, of Church Road, Yardley, Birmingham, entered the care home some time after 3am on June 24, before getting into Miss Crowton's room.

Afterwards, he threatened and then assaulted three of the home's staff, who eventually managed to eject him.

He was tracked down later that morning to Castle Vale Football Stadium, where he had injured himself falling after climbing a 16ft security fence to get into the ground.

Admitting three counts of assault on care home staff before a trial earlier this year, he had denied grievous bodily harm with intent, but was later convicted by a jury.

He was jailed by a judge on Friday, at Birmingham Crown Court.

Following his sentencing, the victim's daughter released a photograph of her mother's injuries as she lay in a hospital bed.

Detective Inspector Richard Marsh, from West Midlands Police CID, said: "This was a truly sickening attack on a vulnerable woman who was unable to walk or communicate.

"Denise was truly a helpless woman who was no threat to anyone and especially not to Debney, a stranger, who broke into her room and subjected her to such a frenzied attack.

"Denise sadly passed away of natural causes, but I am glad the man who made her last days even more intolerable is now behind bars."