Friends of an elderly pensioner battered by a teenage couple for pointing out that they were driving with their headlights off said today he was haunted by the violence.
Andrew Connan, now 79, was pushed to the ground and brutally attacked by Christopher Graney and his girlfriend Samantha Fenton, both 19, as he waited at a bus stop in Bromley last October.
The couple, who were jailed yesterday, turned back after passing the “defenceless 78-year-old” when he made a gesture to turn on their headlights. Graney was sentenced to three years and Fenton to two and a half.
But today friends of Mr Connan, who lives in Bromley, described how his life had “changed irreversibly” since the incident.
The couple left him bleeding on the pavement and he said in a statement read to the court during the trial “my life will never be the same again”.
Artist and lecturer Dr Joy Philippou, 84, who has known Mr Connan for 11 years said: “Andy is such a wonderful man. He is so quiet by nature and so kind, but has not been the same since the attack, his life has changed irreversibly. He has been depressed and his health has suffered – he complains about a pain in his shoulder.
“It is just horrendous to think that he was going about his business, like any of us are, and that was the response he got when he tried to help. He is a very generous man. He would always take the time to chat to you, but things have been difficult for him since October.
“I don’t think the attackers have been given a harsh enough sentence. I doubt Andy would say anything of the sort though, he would not nurture a grudge.” Roger Boughton, a close friend of Mr Connan, said: “Andy is in Scotland, he has found the last few months very difficult. He is trying to put the attack behind him and it is hard for him.”
At the sentencing at Croydon crown court, Judge Stephen Waller said the attackers had shown “not the slightest bit of remorse” throughout their trial.
He added: “In my judgment only a custodial sentence is appropriate and indeed one that demonstrates the public’s abhorrence.”
