Southampton pensioner recalls horrific attack by boy aged just 13

The teenager could not be locked up for the vicious attack because he is too young, the Daily Echo can reveal.

And a judge has revealed had he been just a few months older the attacker would have been sent to prison for years.

Despite the brutality of the attack Judge Derwin Hope refused to lift a ban that protects the thug from being named.

Last night his victim said she thought she was going to die in the attack and called for a change in the law.

Sixty-seven-year-old Frederika Ogborn, who suffers from severe arthritis, was disgusted that the 13-year-old was only given a threeyear supervision order.

She said: “Age should not come into it. The punishment should fit the crime and for the brutal way he attacked me. He has ruined my life.”

Mrs Ogborn believes that it was only her necklace care alarm being triggered off during the frenzied attack that saved her life.

The pensioner, who is known as Freddy, even recited the Lord’s Prayer as she waited for help to arrive at her Shirley Warren, home.

Her ordeal began after the teenager, who had drunk a bottle of red wine, burst into her lounge and attacked her with punches, kicks and a knife.

Prosecutor Siobhan Linsley told Southampton Crown Court how the youth rained blow after blow on the frail woman, repeatedly punching and kicking her head and stomach.

At one stage, Mrs Ogborn, who uses a walking frame, struggled to her knees but was floored again. Ms Linsley described how the teenager smashed ornaments and plates on the floor while demanding the pensioner’s bank card PIN number. He also threatened to kill her dogs.

After the attack Mrs Ogborn spent a night in hospital. She had stitches in her head and spent many weeks in a care home.

She said the ordeal seemed to “go on for hours”. At one stage she feigned unconsciousness in the hope the attack might stop.

Mrs Ogborn said: “The blood was just spilling out. It was all over the settee and floor.”

The pensioner cannot sleep at night without a light on and is petrified of the dark. She is so afraid to be alone that she does not want her carer to leave the house.

Judge Hope said his sentencing was constrained by the law because of the boy’s age but told him that if he had been older, his time in custody would have been measured in years. The judge could not jail the teenager, who admitted burglary and wounding, because at the time of the offence he was under 14 and was not a persistent offender.

He received a three-year supervision order during which he must live with his sister, outside the county, and not return to Hampshire.

He must also observe a 12-week curfew.

The judge also refused an application by the Daily Echo to lift a court order banning the teenager from being identified.

Mrs Ogborn believes that the sentence has sent out on the wrong signals.

She said: “It is not only senior citizens but everyone that needs protection from this sort of thing. When I heard the sentence I was so angry that I swore. It is terrible and it is no comfort at all.

“He wants locking up for good.”

In mitigation, James Newton-Price said the teenager once had a good relationship with the victim and had done odd jobs for her.

“On one occasion he found her in a state of distress and called the ambulance. While she was in hospital, he looked after her dogs.”

On the night, he had undressed to his T-shirt and pants to prepare for bed when he drank a bottle of red wine.

“He has no recollection of what then happened.

He is extremely sorry and would like to meet her to apologise. Maybe she doesn’t want that.”

In statement read out to court Mrs Ogborn described how the attack had changed her life.

She said: "Since he broke into my home and assaulted me, my life has not been the same.

“I continue to see his face all the time. I am constantly nervous and break out in heavy sweats.”

Additonal reporting by Duncan Eaton