A drug addict jumped into a pensioner's car as he was leaving to collect his grandchildren from school and subjected him to vicious beating on his own driveway.
Renee Weaver, 41, punched the victim, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, repeatedly before scrabbling around in his pockets, swiping cash and his phone, and threatening to smash his head in with a glass bottle. Astonishingly, it was the pensioner who was arrested after Weaver, of Vulcan Street in the city centre, lied to officers claiming she was a sex worker and he had assaulted her after refusing to pay up for a sex act.
Merseyside Police handcuffed the stunned grandad only to realise he was in fact the victim. Liverpool Crown Court heard the pensioner felt "let down by the people who are supposed to protect us" after the incident on January 29 last year, off Sheil Road in Kensington.
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Sarah Griffin, prosecuting, told the court: "[The victim] was in his car on his way to collect his grandchildren and as he was reversing off his driveway, the defendant got into the passenger seat. He stated that he did not know the defendant’s name, but he recognised her as one of the women he had seen standing on Sheil Road.
"He asked her ‘What do you want?’ to which she replied ‘You know what I want, I’ve got no money’. She started going through his glove box.
"As he has mobility issues he would have struggled to get out of the car so he started to drive to the police station. The defendant pulled the handbrake on to prevent him from driving any further.
"[The victim] attempted to call the police. When the defendant realised what he was doing she punched him to the side of the face three times causing tenderness and pain."
The court heard after assaulting the terrified grandad , Weaver shouted: "I’m going to call the police and tell them you’ve made me give you [a sex act]." She then snatched his phone and grabbed a £5 note from his jacket pocket, before threatening to "smash his head in" with a glass bottle.
The police were called and found Weaver with the pensioner's phone. She was crying and falsely claimed she had "provided sexual favours" to the victim and that he had underpaid her and assaulted her.
Based on those claims the pensioner was handcuffed and put into the back of a police car, before the truth emerged. Weaver was then arrested and interviewed, where she stuck to her story for a short time before claiming she could not remember events clearly due to being drunk and on drugs.
Ms Griffin said she was initially charged with robbery and a trial date was set for July 11 this year. Weaver was too unwell to attend that day and it was relisted for October 31. However between those dates, things took a devastating turn for the victim when he suffered a stroke.
The court heard Weaver had already offered to plead guilty to theft, assault and possession of heroin, which carry significantly lower sentences than robbery, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not accept those offers.
However after the stroke, the victim was too unwell to give evidence in court and agreed when consulted by the CPS that accepting guilty pleas to the lesser offences was for the best.
Ms Griffin also read a harrowing victim personal statement, written before the stroke, in which the mounting pressure caused by the case was clear. He wrote: "The area I live in for most of my life has now become an area for sex workers to ply their trade. I have always been an early riser as I am a retired fruit and vegetable retailer, but I now find myself worrying prior to leaving my home and looking over my shoulder all of the time before getting into my car and now locking the doors...
"I have had bouts of anxiety prior to going out and increased stress worrying about whether either me, my family or my home may be attacked or targeted as the female responsible knows where I live and made threats. I have as a result ended up in hospital due to panic and anxiety in recent weeks and I am now under observations via medical consultants at the Royal University Hospital Liverpool."
The court heard Weaver had an "unenviable record" of 15 convictions for 25 offences, including for stealing from an elderly man who relied on two walking sticks and spitting in a police officer's mouth.
John Rowan, defending, told the court his client had asked to be sent to prison as she was "simply unable" to comply with the requirements of a suspended sentence order.
He said: "The main problem in her adult life has been her addiction to Class A drugs. Class A drugs have had a massive impact on Miss Weaver both in terms of her mental health and in relation to her physical health.
"There have been times when she has been able to address her drug use and come off drugs, but those have been for a short time."
Mr Rowan said Weaver had been diagnosed with emotional unstable personality disorder (EUPD) and felt going to custody would be a "break from life in the city" and her constant struggles with accommodation and drug use.
Judge Anil Murray, sentencing, said: "You have got a long term drug problem. You have told me you want to sort it out, I hope you do because you will just face longer and longer sentences."
Weaver was jailed for 10 months, and told she would serve half in custody before being automatically released on licence.
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