Thug gets 11 years jail for terrifying pensioner attacks in Wolverhampton

A violent thug who battered two pensioners in a ‘terrifying’ attack, smashing a wooden chair over one and kicking both in the face, has been jailed for 11 years.

Mohammed Ali was on bail at the time for a similar assault on another vulnerable resident.

Despite his age, 32-year-old Ali was living in Lincoln House - a block of flats allocated as elderly accommodation in Heath Town, Wolverhampton - when he attacked Howard Warner and Margaret Reynolds in July last year.

He was in the lift with 74-year-old Mr Turner when the pensioner pointed out he was getting out at the wrong floor ‘in an attempt to be helpful’, said Mr David Swinnerton, prosecuting, at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

But Ali reacted by shouting ‘Racist pig, do you think I’m thick?’ at him.

Mr Warner tried to leave the lift but was pushed back in and had his glasses grabbed.

When the lift doors opened, Mr Warner was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face and body.

Resident Margaret Reynolds, 72, who witnessed the attack, tried to help her friend but Ali forced his way into her flat as she tried to call the police and grabbed the phone from her, the court heard.

As she reached for a panic button, Ali punched her to the floor and brought down a wooden chair on her head, holding it on the back of her hands to pin her to the floor.

He also kicked her in the face and squeezed her cheeks so hard, they bled, said Mr Swinnerton.

Mr Rajinder Claire, defending, conceded the attacks were ‘terrifying’ for the victims but said Ali was drunk at the time and had expressed remorse.

He had a history of violence but had stayed out of trouble for 10 years.

The defendant was on bail for an attack last April on an Iranian refuge who had fled to the UK because of persecution in his own country, the court heard.

Mohammed Gasimi was awaiting an operation on an ear damaged in a blaze in his homeland when he was attacked by Ali, then a fellow resident at St Andrews House in Evans Street, Whitmore Reans.

Ali claimed Mr Gasimi owed him money for drugs and launched a prolonged assault on him inside his flat which continued in the lift.

Ali targeted the victim's ear area, and left him battered and bruised.

Ali, of Lowe Street, Wolverhampton, was convicted after trial of causing actual bodily harm to Mr Gasimi.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted grievous bodily harm on the two pensioners.

Recorder Julian Taylor praised Mrs Reynolds for her bravery in going to Mr Warner's rescue.