Gran ‘disgusted’ pregnant stranger not jailed

A grandmother who suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung in an assault by a pregnant stranger at a funeral wake said she was “disgusted” her attacker avoided jail time.

Belinda Strickland, 65, was attending a friend’s funeral when 39-year-old mother-of-three Danielle Oliver threw herself at the unsuspecting grandmother without warning.

Ms Strickland was also left with breathing difficulties and a lasting diagnosis of emphysema after the attack at the Conservative Club in Splott, Cardiff, on 9 June last year.

Oliver, who was 22 weeks pregnant at the time of the attack, was given a 66-week sentence, suspended for two years, at Cardiff Crown Court in July.

“I am disgusted at the sentence,” said the grandmother-of-14. “She has walked free while I continue to live with the consequences.”

Ms Strickland, who is retired, said she was attending the funeral of her best friend’s partner when “all hell broke loose”.

“I felt a hard punch to the side of my head,” she recalled. “Pain tore through my face and the next thing I knew I was on the floor, dazed and completely disorientated.”

Ms Strickland said she believed she was “going to die” in the attack that began just as mourners were about to raise a toast to the deceased.

The grandmother said she “staggered up on to my feet” with the help of her partner Rob.

“People were gathering around me, there was a real commotion,” she said. “I looked up and I saw a woman screaming hysterically at me.

“Staff had to virtually drag her out of the exit.

“I’d never seen her before, she was a complete stranger to me and I had no idea why she had punched me.”

Ms Strickland said she lost consciousness while she was being driven to the city’s University of Wales Hospital by a bartender, waking up in intensive care a few days later.

She had five broken ribs on her right side and a fractured rib on the left and one of the ribs had punctured her lung.

“Doctors told me I was very lucky to be alive,” she said.

Her four daughters were at the hospital, holding her hand and waiting for her to wake up, she said, adding: “They didn’t know if I was going to die.”

Ms Strickland said she was already registered disabled with arthritis and a heart complaint and had undergone two hip replacements before the attack.

“I spent 12 days in hospital recovering after fighting for my life,” she said.

“This woman was a complete stranger to me. I had absolutely no idea why she would want to hurt me.”

Her attacker was now “woven into my everyday life”, Ms Strickland said.

“I will never be the same again because of what she did.

“I won’t even go to the supermarket alone anymore.

“Danielle Oliver has never apologised to me for what she did or shown any remorse. I could have died that day.

“I am still in a lot of pain because of the attack and life will never be the same again for me.”

Police used CCTV footage from the club to identify Oliver, who was caught two days after the attack.

During sentencing, Judge Simon Mills said: “Even brief incidents of violence can have catastrophic consequences.

“Any idea that a single blow to the face doesn’t do any harm is completely wide of the mark.

“You could today have been facing prosecution for manslaughter.

“I have heard you are surprised by the seriousness of your victim’s injuries.

“Well, I’m afraid in the job that I do I see all of the time how momentary acts of violence have very serious consequences and sometimes fatal consequences.

“Once you lay your hands on someone else in such a way then the consequences can be truly catastrophic and they arguably have been in this case.”

He added: “I am not going into the background of why you made the decision you did.

“You were pregnant at the time and I’m aware your medication had to be adjusted.

“An issue was brought to your attention which caused you to make completely the wrong decision.”