The thug sent a pensioner flying to floor after he attempted to snatch her prescription at the Royal Liverpool Hospital
Lee Houghton(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thug stripped naked and called his own solicitor a “slag” after being arrested. Lee Houghton found himself in custody having attempted to snatch a pensioner’s medication as she collected her prescription from the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
The victim, a walking stick user in her 60s, was sent flying to the floor as a result of the assault. A judge today warned her attacker to “get a grip of his life” and “sort himself out” or face “ever longer” prison sentences.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Tuesday, that security guards were alerted to Houghton begging in the Liverpool University Dental Hospital’s café at around 10am on March 25 this year. The 48-year-old, of no fixed address, refused to leave upon request and, as one of the employees, John Baxter, attempted to escort him from the site, the defendant “became aggressive” and punched him in the head.
David Polglase, prosecuting, described how, at the same time, Kim Harries was attending the hospital in order to collect her prescription. As he left the premises, Houghton approached her while shouting “Give me that, give me that.”
Having ultimately been unable to take her medication, he then pushed her in the back. Ms Harries fell to the floor as a result, leaving her “shaken” and with swelling and bruising to her knee and elbow.
Houghton was ultimately arrested the following day on Derby Square in Liverpool city centre. Having been transported to custody, he then refused to be interviewed but called his solicitor a “slag” during the disclosure process and stripped naked in his cell.
His criminal record shows a total of 51 previous convictions for 84 offences, including matters of dishonesty but no prior entries for robbery. Matthew O’Neill, defending, told the court: “He is trying to use his time productively. In the circumstances, I invite the court to impose the shortest possible sentence it can.
“The pre-sentence report outlines the upbringing that the defendant had. His mother and father were alcoholics. He lost his younger brother at the age of seven. Ever since, he has turned to a life of drugs, alcohol and crime. Until he addresses these issues, the likelihood is that he will be before the courts again in the future.”
Houghton admitted attempted robbery and assaulting an emergency services worker. Wearing a grey prison issue jumper while appearing via video link from prison, he was jailed for 34 months.
Sentencing, Judge David Potter said: “You were intoxicated, high on drugs and begging in the café. You became belligerent and aggressive. When Mr Baxter put his hand upon you to escort you from the building, you turned and punched him to the side of the head.
“You then left the premises. At the same time, Mrs Harries was outside the entrance. She was a lady in her mid-60s. She has a range of difficulties and was walking with the aid of walking sticks.
“You pulled her over, onto the floor. She fell heavily on her right side. You then ran off across the street and down into town. That left Mr Baxter smarting from the punch to the side of his head, but, more seriously still, the injuries caused to Mrs Harries were deeply upsetting and painful for her, having regard to the fact that she had pre-existing arthritis and osteoporosis.
“She expresses the hope that you will learn from these events and change the life that you have become all too familiar with. I have read the [pre-sentence] report in this case. It makes for depressing reading, a life ravaged by drink and drugs with little support from anyone in the community.
“It is time, frankly, to get a grip on the life you have led and, as Mrs Harries has said, sort yourself out. If not, as Mr O’Neill has said, the sentences will be ever longer.”