A ‘savage’ criminal who left a woman with catastrophic injuries by trying to murder her for money in her own home has been jailed for life.
Ross Clancy, 40, repeatedly smashed 65-year-old stranger Niamh Michelle Cunningham in the head and face with a claw hammer, causing severe brain damage.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that she remains in hospital six months after the attack in Elswick, Newcastle, in which her partner, Jonathan Hall, 60, was also brutally attacked by Clancy.
The attack took place during a three-day violent crime spree last November, during which he also carried out a series of robberies and beat a female friend with an iron.
Clancy, who already had a long history of 76 offences and had been released from prison on licence at the time, has been told he
must serve a minimum of 28 years behind bars before he has any chance of parole.
The court heard Ms Cunningham was at her home on Friday, November 21, when there was a knock at the door. Clancy kicked open the door while Mr Hall was upstairs, and things escalated.
Prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC said: ‘Hall heard raised voices from downstairs, those voices got louder and louder. Mr Hall heard Ms Cunningham repeatedly shouting, ‘I’m not going to pay you any money’.
‘He then heard further shouts and the noise of banging and crashing coming from downstairs. He heard Ms Cunningham cry out and realised he had to go downstairs to find out what was happening. As he descended the stairs, the house became quiet and still again.’
After going downstairs, Clancy charged at Hall and began attacking him with the hammer on the head.
He searched for Ms Cunningham, who was slumped over in the utility room with severe injuries. The court heard he called 999 while bleeding so profusely that it saturated his phone.
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Ms Cunningham was found to have extensive fractures to the face and head, a large number of lacerations to the scalp, forehead, nose and mouth, and extensive facial fractures centred predominantly over the left front of the face.
There were fractures involving the whole facial skeleton; all four walls of the left orbit had been fractured, she had displaced teeth and a broken jaw, with one tooth found lodged in her throat.
She also had bleeding and swelling on the brain so severe that the left side of her skull had to be removed to try to alleviate the pressure that was building from the swelling.
Mr Makepeace said: ‘There were at least nine separate scalp wounds identified with extensive underlying fractures to the face and skull. Fifteen pieces of fractured skull had to be removed during the surgical intervention. Essentially, every bone in the face was broken, some in multiple places.’
The court heard Ms Cunningham has been an inpatient at the hospital since the assault. She remains cognitively impaired with non-fluent speech and is fed and given fluids by a gastrostomy tube.
Taking fluids by mouth is still under the supervision of speech and language therapists because of the risk of aspiration.
Mr Makepeace said: ‘The majority of Ms Cunningham’s day is spent in bed, and physiotherapists are needed to aid her transfer to a chair for periods of sitting. She does not have the capacity to make decisions for herself.’
Ms Cunningham will likely never be able to live an independent life again, with the most likely outcome being ongoing care in a nursing home.
Mr Hall sustained six lacerations to the top and back of the head, two abrasions to the back of his head, an open depressed skull fracture to the top right side of his head and a further possible depressed skull fracture.
Unlike his partner, Mr Hall has made a good physical recovery but continues to suffer the psychological impact of the attack.
As he fled the scene, Clancy stole Ms Cunningham’s Renault Twingo, which he later sold for £20. A blood-soaked hammer was found inside the property, and there was blood spatter at various locations in the property.
Clancy pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Ms Cunningham and GBH with intent on Mr Hall.
He also admitted a series of other offences, including stealing a gold ring from a pawnbroker’s, robbing Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and McDonald’s and trying to rob a William Hill shop and Jet petrol station. He also attacked a woman he was staying with in her bed with an iron.
Imposing the life sentence, Judge Penny Moreland said: ‘Your attack was savage and brutal. By your plea, you admit you intended to kill her. What you did was to destroy her life.
‘You broke the hearts of her elderly parents, you broke the hearts of her sister, who is struggling with the incalculable grief and loss she has described, and her long-term partner, Mr Hall, who is struggling to support her and dealing with the consequences of what you did to Niamh Cunningham.’
Clancy’s barrister said he has expressed regret and is sorry for the serious injuries he caused Ms Cunningham.
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