29/09/2026
South Shields Man broke pensioner's wrist and back with 'despicable' push
A South Shields man who broke a 78-year-old woman's wrist and back when he pushed her over, causing a "devastating" decline in her dementia, has been jailed for two and a half years.
Dean McLellan, 38, shoved the woman shortly after she appeared to give him money to buy something from a corner shop, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The victim's daughter said her mother previously enjoyed life but had undergone a "massive change" because of the attack, adding: "Mam is not the happy person she was."
McLellan, of no fixed abode, whose previous convictions included robbery, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Although she had Alzheimer's disease, the victim was still able to live alone with the support of regular carer visits and make daily outings, including to a corner shop in Hebburn, prosecutor Richard Herrmann said.
On 23 June she encountered McLellan, whom she did not know, who was with a woman and child in a pushchair outside the store, the court heard.
McLellan, who was shirtless and carrying a bottle, spoke to the woman and CCTV footage showed her giving him something, believed to be money, the court heard.
He went into the shop to make some purchases while the victim stayed outside talking to the woman and young child, the court was told.
The woman with McLellan was seen to hug the victim, with their conversation appearing to be "perfectly friendly and good-natured", Herrmann said.
The victim was in front of the pushchair talking to the child when McLellan came back outside, the court heard.
Suddenly, "without any apparent warning", McLellan forcefully shoved the woman, causing her to fall backwards on to the ground, with the attacker heard to swear and say "out of my way", the court heard.
"The assault was wholly unprovoked, unjustified and unjustifiable," Herrmann said.
McLellan was "utterly unconcerned" about the condition of the victim and walked away "without making any effort to see how [she] was", while his companion stayed to try to help the woman, the court heard.
The victim was taken to hospital where she was found to have a broken right wrist and fracture to one of the vertebrae in her spine, the court was told.
'Caused unreal pain'
The victim's daughter told the court the "unprovoked" attack on a "vulnerable elderly lady" left her feeling "angry, sickened and traumatised" on behalf of her mother.
Her mother's life had been "enjoyable", she said, involving a lot of socialising and "plenty of fresh air and exercise".
But she could not now even hold a cup of tea or bathe herself, was in pain if she sat too long and struggled to walk, the court heard.
She was also too "frightened" to go outside.
"I have seen a massive change," the woman said, adding: "Mam is not the happy person she was."
Her dementia had "become more advanced" with the injuries "life-changing" and "life-limiting", the woman's daughter said.
"We all feel devastated by this one person's actions," the woman said, adding: "The pain he has caused is unreal."
In mitigation, the court heard McLellan, who had 21 offences on his criminal record including for robbery, violence and domestic abuse, accepted pushing the woman had been a "frankly horrid" and "mean" act.
'Shame on you'
Judge Thomas Moran said any right-thinking people would say "what sort of person" could "forcefully push" an "obviously frail and vulnerable elderly lady".
He said before the attack the woman was an "active, friendly sociable person able to live independently", with her good nature shown by the "pleasant exchange" she had with McLellan's companion.
Then, when the woman was "lying in agony on the floor", McLellan was "totally uninterested" and "callously casually went on" his way, the judge said.
"Shame on you for such despicable behaviour", the judge told McLellan, adding the woman's "very active social life" had been brought to "an end" by the attack.
