Woman left with broken neck after 'wild animal' cousin BRUTALLY attacked her with police baton
KIDDERMINSTER, ENGLAND: A 33-year-old woman named Stacie Bastable was left with a broken neck and is still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after her cousin Reece Cooper beat her with a police baton on April 3, 2021, at a family gathering being held in memory of two relatives who died during the pandemic.
According to DailyMail, Cooper, then 18, arrived with alcohol and armed with an extendable baton at the family event in Wolverhampton. He hit Bastable and two others, including Bastable’s daughter. Bastable got fractures following the assault and was fitted with a special halo neck brace to help her recover from the injuries. She has also suffered from PTSD and had to leave her job as a civil servant. While narrating the attack, she said that it was completely unprovoked. "He was like a wild animal. I knew straight away my neck was broken as I had to hold my head up with my hands," she recollected.
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Bastable further said, "It’s totally changed my personality, I used to go to the gym every day after work but now I really struggle to go. I can’t face the prospect of going back to anything at the moment, I just know I’m not ready mentally. I panic over silly little things, like walking down the stairs, conscious that I might trip and break my neck again. I’m constantly on alert mode."
"Even when my daughter’s hugging me, I panic that it will be too tight and hurt me. I’m struggling with other people now as well, if a member of my family can do something like that, how can I trust someone else? It’s put a real strain on the family, I hardly speak to anyone who was at that gathering now," she added.
Attacker jailed for three years
Initially, Cooper didn't accept any of the offenses, but then, ahead of a jury trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon, and two offenses of assault by beating, and was jailed for three years.
Judge Chambers told during the hearing on August 26, "You went to a family party armed with a serious weapon. During the course of that party, you attacked and assaulted a middle-aged woman by striking her repeatedly to the neck causing fractures and as a consequence, she suffered grave and life-changing injuries. You were 18 at the time. Your report concludes that you have a low level of maturity. But it remains a serious assault in the context that you went to this event carrying a weapon. It is not suggested that you carried it to cause issues at this specific event."