Some of the people facing justice for violent attacks

The level of violence used in some of these brutal assaults has had a life-long impact on some of the victims while others have been fortunate not to suffer lasting damage.

WOMAN'S SKULL CRUSHED

A man who carried out a "horrendous" attack on a woman leaving her with permanent scarring was jailed for two years.

The attack happened just before 7.20pm on March 26, 2020 when Brandon Neal was walking in Worlds End Hill in Bracknell.

Neal smashed a bottle onto the woman's forehead, causing a 4cm gash down to her skull.

Investigating officer PC Jake-Jon Crowdey at the time said: “This was a horrendous attack on a member of the public who was not known to the defendant.

“The victim sustained life-changing injuries as a result of this incident and has permanent scarring on her head.

"I am pleased to see that a custodial sentence has been given, as this attack left the victim both physically and mentally scarred."

READ MORE: Police cordon in place after two teenagers are stabbed in Slough

STAMPED ON HEAD

A thug was jailed for viciously attacking a man in Friar Street, Reading, on New Year's Day.

Izmir Shehi, of Crockenhamwell Road, Woodley, has been sent down after being found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict on Friday, July 16.

Police said Shehi approached his victim from behind and punched him to the back of the head which caused the victim to fall over.

Shehi went on to kick and stamp on the victim's head while he lay unconscious in Friar Street.

Other members of the group pulled the attacker away, but he attempted to return to further assault the still unconscious victim.

TERROR ATTACKER

The knifeman who rampaged through Reading's Forbury Gardens killing three people was handed a whole-life sentence on January 11.

Khairi Saadallah, 26, shouted “Allahu akhbar” as he fatally stabbed friends James Furlong, 36, David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, on June 20 last year.

Three other people – Stephen Young, 51, Patrick Edwards, 29, and Nishit Nisudan, 34, – were also injured in the horrific attack before Saadallah threw away the eight-inch knife and ran off, pursued by an off-duty police officer.

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The failed Libyan asylum seeker had launched the attacks in the town centre park as the victims were enjoying a summer evening after the first lockdown restrictions in England were relaxed.

Saadallah, of Basingstoke Road, Reading, pleaded guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.

Mr Justice Sweeney said: "His attack on them was so swift, ruthless and brutal that none of them had any chance to react, let alone to defend themselves.

"Using his combat experience in each of their cases the defendant targeted a vulnerable area where a single thrust of the knife would, as he intended, inevitably cause death."

HAMMER ATTACKER

A judge has slammed a mother-of-five for spitting at two police officers during the “height of the pandemic” after she was arrested for attacking a man with a claw hammer.

Rosie Hicks, of Blackburn Road, Bradford, will serve at least half-a-year behind bars following her “violent and enraged behaviour” in Slough in April last year.

The 26-year-old “deliberately” spat at the officers, a court heard, to “make them feel worried about coronavirus”.

Reading Crown Court heard how Hicks confronted a Slough family after hearing a “derogatory comment” on April 26, 2020.

She proceeded to hit the family’s door with a claw hammer, causing “extensive damage”, according to prosecutor Philip Levy.

CCTV footage displayed in court then showed a man coming out of the house to confront Hicks, but she then hit him on the head with the weapon causing him injuries.

Judge Nott handed Hicks a 12-month prison sentence after the 26-year-old admitted to affray and assaulting an emergency worker.

Hicks will spend six months in custody before being released on licence.

The sentencing took place at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, August 10.

THROAT STRANGLED

David Rackett, of Scours Lane, Reading, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on March 15 after stabbing a woman in the throat.

10 minutes after David and his victim got to his home, Rackett launched the violent attack throwing her to the floor and strangling her.

The woman managed to free herself from his grip before he stabbed her in the throat, saying her life wasn't worth living. Read more here

GOUGING OFFICER'S EYE

Ireneusz Wiater aged 35, of no fixed abode, was sentenced in Reading Crown Court on Thursday, March 4, after being found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a police officer.

Wiater assaulted a police officer by choking him in a headlock and tried to gouge his left eye out.

He was then charged and remanded the next day.

The attack left the officer with "many painful injuries", including temporary blindness in his eye.

RAPING WOMAN

Arron Jackson, 27 of Grovelands Road, Reading, was found guilty by a majority jury at Reading Crown Court on Thursday, April 29.

In 2010, Jackson visited a woman's home in Berkshire to watch a film with her.

The court heard how the victim had fallen asleep and she woke up to find Jackson was raping her. He then left her home.

On Friday, June 25, he was sentenced to six years' and six months’ imprisonment at Aylesbury Crown Court and will be placed on Sex Offenders Register for life.

LODGERS STABBED

Piotr Malinowski, of Adelphi Gardens in Slough, will face years behind bars after he launched a vicious and unprovoked attack on his lodgers.

Two women were knifed in the stabbing that happened on December 28, 2020 - one woman stabbed several times in the neck and ear, and the other in the hands and legs.

At the hearing on May 28, Malinowski was sentenced to seven years in prison for two counts of GBH wounding with intent and one count of possession of a bladed article.

RAPING BOY

Trevor Smith, formerly of Dedworth Road, Windsor, was jailed for 21 years after being found guilty of raping a boy and sexually abusing a girl.

The girl, who was first abused by 59-year-old Smith when she was around four years of age, said she had her childhood ‘taken away from her’.

The second survivor, a man who was raped and sexually assaulted by Smith from around the ages of 8 and 12, said he has suffered from effects including bed-wetting, insomnia, night terrors and stomach disorders in the years since the abuse.

HIT AND RUN

Gary Heffenden, 21, of Wateringbury Road, Kent, was sentenced on Tuesday, April 6, at Reading Crown Court after being sentenced for a number of hit and run incidents.

The sentencing comes after an incident on August 16, 2018, when Haffenden was driving on Lower Road, Minster, Kent, when he crashed head-on with a driver travelling in the opposite direction.

Then once again on March 17, 2019, Haffenden was driving on Wraysbury Road, Wraysbury, when he was involved in a crash with a pedestrian who died at the scene. Again, Haffenden did not stop the car at the incident.

Haffenden was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on April 7 after admitting to one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving, causing death whilst uninsured and failing to stop after a road accident.

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