Mentally-ill man punched pensioner pushing wheelchair along Leeds street
A man suffering from psychosis attacked an 80-year-old in the street who was pushing a relative along the street in a wheelchair.
Kory Cowell had failed to take his medication and launched at the elderly man without provocation.
Cowell was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after admitting a charge of ABH.
Prosecutor Joel Wootten said it happened at around 3.30pm on August 31 on Harehills Road.
Cowell, 39, was heard to say: “Look at the the floor, don’t look at me.”
He then threw the punch which contacted with the pensioner’s face. Cowell then walked off swiftly, but was soon arrested.
The victim was taken to hospital with a 2cm wound to his cheek. An x-ray could not determine if there was a fracture to his jaw.
A victim impact statement was read to the court suggesting the victim still has flashbacks and that it had “really shaken him up”.
Cowell, of no fixed address, has 19 previous convictions for 35 offences including drug dealing, public order and for firearms.
Mitigating, Rachel Webster said the attack was spontaneous and short-lived.
She said at the time Cowell was “clearly mentally unwell”, has psychosis, had been sectioned multiple times and was unable to get his medication that day.
She said his use of illegal drugs were the “root cause” of his problems, but said he was “extremely ashamed of his actions”.
Judge Simon Phillips KC jailed him for 18 months and gave him a restraining order of indefinite length to keep him away from the victim.