Visually Impaired Man Set On Fire In Brighton Street

Reblogged from Same Difference:

This is shocking. Please share everywhere- this should have mainstream media coverage.

A visually-impaired man was set on fire in a random attack after being stopped in the street and asked what it was like to be blind.

The 38-year-old victim was on his way back from a conference and was due to meet his partner when he was stopped in quiet Guildford Road in Brighton at 4.45pm on Friday.

An older man, believed to be in his 60s, approached him and asked about his disability.

He reportedly referred to him as a “poor blind man”, but then set him on fire as he walked away.

A police source told The Argus there was no altercation before the incident and the suspect and victim did not know one another.

The victim, from Portslade, who has no peripheral vision, felt the older man brush his arm before flames shot up his arm.

It is believed an accelerant was used to start the fire and tests are being carried out on the victim’s clothes.

The police source said: “He was going to meet his partner when the suspect engaged him in a brief chat.

“The conversation was something along the lines of, ‘You are blind. You poor blind man’.

“The suspect then walked off and brushed the victim’s arm.

“He felt heat on his arm and then realised he was on fire.

“Luckily he was not injured, but obviously he was very shocked.

“It was totally random.”

The victim, who walks with a cane, managed to extinguish the flames himself.

Detective Constable Darran Newman said: “This is a shocking attack on a vulnerable member of our community. Thankfully he was not injured, but could have been badly burnt if he had not been able to extinguish the flames himself.”

The suspect is described as white and slim. He was wearing pale-coloured clothing which included an open jacket.

Anyone with information should call Sussex Police on 101.

Man jailed for street attack on disabled woman

Bradford Crown Court

Published on Thursday 14 February 2013 14:01

A Mixenden man who carried out a drunken street attack on a disabled woman has been jailed for four-and-a-half years today.

Last October 45-year-old Janesse Mousea, who uses a walking stick, was captured on CCTV footage hobbling towards a cash machine in Old Cock Yard, Halifax, late a night minutes before she was confronted by angry Gavin Husband.

The drunken 29-year-old had earlier tried to get money from the same ATM himself, but when he returned to confront his victim he demanded the cash she had just withdrawn.

A jury at Bradford Crown Court was shown shocking CCTV footage of Husband hitting the complainant and wrestling her onto the ground where he then knelt over her and bit her nose.

In a statement read during Husband’s trial the victim described how he was shouting “where’s my money” as she tried to fight him off with her walking stick.

She said Husband was holding her down on the ground as he bit her nose and forced his fingers into her mouth.

The victim said she was terrified, struggling for breath and screaming for help.

The CCTV footage showed police officers rushing to the area to grab Husband and pull him off his victim.
Husband, of Sunnybank Road, Mixenden, accepted he had assaulted the complainant, but denied it had been an attempted robbery.

After less than an hour of deliberation today, the jury found him guilty of attempted robbery and Recorder Toby Wynn imposed an immediate prison sentence.

The court heard that the victim had suffered nightmares in the wake of the attack and also had on-going dental problems.

Barrister Nicholas Askins, for Husband, said his client had written a letter of apology to her which had been handed to the prosecution.

Recorder Wynn described the attack as “an utterly despicable act” and said it was aggravated by the time of night and the vulnerability of the victim.

The judge said a prison term of seven years could be justified, but he was going to be more merciful bearing in mind that it would be Husband’s first substantial jail term.

“I accept that the following day when you were in custody and you were shown that DVD footage you were genuinely remorseful and ashamed of yourself and so you should be,” added the judge.

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