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ERNEST Jackson in hospital after the attack.
‘Sentence is insult to Ernest’
Emma Fitzgerald23/ 2/2006
EXCLUSIVE
RELATIVES of a man beaten until he was brain damaged have criticised the 'appalling' sentence handed to his attacker.
Walter and Margaret Jackson say the 32-month jail term handed to David Bates is nothing compared with the life sentence given to Ernest Jackson, 64, who needs round-the-clock care in a nursing home.
The couple, of Cambrai Crescent, Winton, are also angered by the fact they never got to see Bates in court because they were not told the date of his sentencing had been brought forward by a day.
Walter, Ernest's older brother, was called to Hope Hospital following the vicious attack last July and was told to expect the worst.
Despite the severity of his injuries Mr Jackson pulled through but will never fully recover.
He suffered a stroke and a heart attack shortly after the attack, his vision and speech are impaired and he has only just started eating again.
Mr and Mrs Jackson, both 72, are devastated by the prison sentence given to Bates, 23, by His Honour Judge Bernard Lever at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Mr Jackson, who makes the hour-long bus journey to visit his brother in his Lower Broughton care home every day, added: "Even five years wouldn't have been a harsh enough sentence, but it would have been a more satisfactory conclusion. We're devastated and I don't see why we can't appeal against this."
Appeals against sentences are made to the High Court via Britain's Attorney General.
Mrs Jackson said: "In this day and age you don't get big sentences so we hadn't built our hopes up that much, but we did feel at the very least he should have got four to five years. To get 32 months, we think, is appalling.
"I feel very strongly that judges need to spend some time in our world. They should live on a council estate, go on a bus and walk along our roads - they have no idea what's actually going on.
"Ernie's only just started eating and his weight has dropped to about nine stone. The notches on his spine are stuck out like knuckles.
"He gets very frightened and when I go to see him he grips my hand so tight.
"I just wanted to see this lad just to see who had done this to a man 40 years older than him, but we weren't told the case had been brought forward and now we'll never get the chance. It isn't just one person who's suffering from this, it's an entire family - and when these cases are judged this should be taken into consideration."
"Ernie wasn't aggressive and Walter can't remember him ever having a fight in his entire life.
"The people in his home think he gets flashbacks because if someone comes at the back of him he'll turn round as if to defend himself."
A spokesman for Minshull Street Crown Court said the decision to change the sentencing date was made in agreement with the prosecution and defence because one of the barristers involved in the case was otherwise committed on the original sentencing day.
She said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would have been informed and it would be up to them to relay the information to victims and their families through Salford's Witness Care Unit.
A CPS spokesman said they had made every effort to keep the Jackson family informed but an error had been made because the date was altered so late in the day.
He said: "The CPS apologises for not informing the family of the new hearing date and are reviewing procedures to prevent this happening again."
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23/03/2006 at 20:04
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