Yahoo News Thug sisters jailed for attacking homeless disabled woman after calling her a 'hunchback'
A pair of thug sisters have been jailed for brutally attacking a disabled homeless woman in the street after mocking her for being a hunchback.
Katie Thomasson, 24, and younger sister Molly, 21, launched the savage assault which left victim Jodie Gillett with a broken nose and eye socket.
Miss Gillett was left hospitalised for two days as a result of being repeatedly punched and kicked in the face in Worcester city centre on March 16.
The court heard Katie had approached the victim, who suffers from curvature of the spine, with one hand held behind her back as she pretended to hobble along the street "mimicking a hunchback".
She then grabbed Miss Gillett by the hair and punched her several times in the face before Molly joined in the attack as the victim begged: "leave me alone, please stop".
The young sisters, both of Worcester, were jailed after admitting causing grievous bodily harm.
Katie was caged for two-and-a-half years while Molly was handed a two year prison sentence at Worcester Crown Court.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Juckes QC said the attack went on for a "considerable time" and added: “It would have seemed to the victim like forever.”
He told the sisters that the ugliest part of this was that they "knew of her disability and you mocked her for it."
He said: “That performance you put up was so grossly insulting you must have winced to watch it as anyone would.”
As they were sent down, one of the women screamed 'I've got kids!' as shrieks and wails erupted from the dock and public gallery.
The pair claimed the victim had made nasty comments about the cot death of Katie Thomasson's child four years earlier, which they said provoked the attack.
The victim accepted she swore at Katie and called her "a slag" but disputed making any comments about a dead baby after she was abused by the sisters.
Raj Punia, prosecuting, said: “You see the defendant, Katie Thomasson, mimicking a hunchback. It’s plain to see.
CCTV shows a police officer chasing after the two women, part of a group of four or five other people, as they escaped.
The court heard Katie had seven previous convictions for seven offences, including assault. Her sister had no previous convictions.
Barry Newton, who represented both sisters, said: “I would say their contrition is genuine and their remorse is genuine.”
