A 91-YEAR-old man was hospitalised with broken ribs after his violent next-door neighbour beat him up in an unprovoked attack.

Gillian Dykes also ‘waved’ a knife around while shouting, screaming and swearing at the elderly man – who had called round to check on her.

Dykes, of Hayley Road South, Burtonwood, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court last Monday after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Prosecuting, Sarah Griffin told the court how the 52-year-old and her neighbour used to have a good relationship and would often spend time together, including Christmas, and how the victim had even lent her money on some occasions.

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Ms Griffin said the offence happened in May last year after the pair had been drinking at the Chapel House Inn in Burtonwood.

Dykes had left the pub without the victim as she was ‘unhappy’ about something, so when the victim returned home he went to check on her to see if everything was okay.

But after inviting him in, Dykes retrieved a knife with blood and started to wave it round in the air while shouting and calling the 91-year-old vile names.

Ms Griffin said that the victim said he had ‘never been so scared in his life’.

Dykes then put the knife down and the man was able to hide it under a pillow.

But this resulted in an outburst of violence from Dykes as she grabbed the man, pushed him over and screamed and shouted at him to leave her property.

While the victim was trying to leave, Dykes continued to attack him.

She pushed him over at the front door where she dragged him before kicking him so hard that neighbours ‘heard the connection’, said Ms Griffin.

Dykes continued to attack him – hitting him in the face, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him and then shutting the door which caught his hand.

The victim was hospitalised overnight and suffered three broken ribs as a result of Dykes’ violent actions.

In a victim personal impact statement, he explained how he was put on morphine for the pain and was housebound for a number of weeks – despite being active and independent beforehand.

The incident resulted in the victim’s family having to hire carers to look after him at his home.

The court heard that at the time of the offence, Dykes was under the influence of alcohol and was found to be ‘misusing heroin and cocaine’.

Defending, Hunter Gray said: “It was clearly an unpleasant incident.

“Ms Dykes has struggled to understand her own motivations for committing this offence.

“She is not ordinarily a violent person.

“She has issues with drugs and alcohol, but this does not usually lead to offences like this one.”

He said that Dykes left the pub as she believed a group of men were talking about her and believed her next-door neighbour ‘may have been supporting these men’.

“She seems ashamed by her actions,” Mr Hunter added.

Concluding, recorder Peter Cowan said: “This offence was so serious that the only appropriate punishment is one of an immediate custodial sentence.”

Dykes was handed a 12-month prison sentence and is subject to a restraining order.