Bassetlaw man's attack on support worker

A mentally-ill Bassetlaw man dragged his female support worker around the floor by her hair and banged her head against a radiator, a court heard.
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News from the courts

Richard Cottee had been drinking alcohol when he attacked the woman, at a Tuxford care home for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues, at 7pm, on May 1.

“He told her he was being treated like a rag doll and ran at her,” said Robert Carr, prosecuting.

“He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the floor where she had to crouch on her hands and knees.

“He pulled her around the floor and banged her head against the radiator. She got back on her feet and felt blows to her head and kidney.

“She was punched in her right eye and was knocked back to the floor. He pulled her around the floor again. She was shouting at him to stop and almost pleading.”

Another resident tried to get Cottee off the woman and the police were called.

The support worker was taken to hospital with swelling to her scalp, hair pulled out, extensive bruising, a “whiplash-like” injury to her neck and concussion.

Cottee, 36, of Ashvale Road, Tuxford, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

The court heard he received a 16 week prison sentence, for a dissimilar matter, suspended for a year, in June 2016.

Abbie Edwards, mitigating, said Cottee, a paranoid schizophrenic, was on a large amount of medication, and had been hearing voices.

She said he had been drinking alcohol on the day, and was on the wrong dose of medication.

“I would ask you to step back for a custodial sentence today,” she said.

“The psychiatric report states there would be a disruption in his care if he went to prison and cause a negative impact on his mental state.

“He would be able to get hold of legal highs which would affect his mental health disastrously.”

She said Cottee, who denied punching the woman, had been free from drugs for over a year.

Sentencing was adjourned until June 29, for an updated psychiatric report.

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