Haverhill hammer attack victim 'betrayed' by a woman he tried to help
A man who suffered a fractured skull in a violent attack says he ‘feels sorry’ for the woman who has been jailed for her part in the assault, but added that ‘she got what she deserved’.
Martin Golding was attacked in his own flat in Salisbury Court, Haverhill, on February 24 by two men armed with a hammer and a knife while Cherie Tyler stood by and watched.
He had initially let 30-year-old Tyler in, but after refusing her request for money and showing her out of his home, the two men rushed in before he could close the door and attacked him.
The assaults left the 54-year-old with a fractured skull, six fractured ribs, bleeding on the brain and a deep cut to his forehead.
Before leaving the flat the men stole around £300 from a locked cupboard, a mobile phone and a wallet containing bank cards.
The bank cards were subsequently used four times to obtain items worth £138 and Tyler was identified from CCTV stills of the transactions.
On Monday, at Ipswich Crown Court, Tyler was sentenced to 12 years in prison having already pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery in connection with the attack on Mr Golding, as well as admitting 10 other offences.
Speaking to the Echo on Tuesday, Mr Golding said: “She is a very nasty piece of work is what I think of her, but at the same time I actually feel sorry for her in a way.
“But at the same time she got what she deserved.
“It’s one thing to rob something off someone or to steal from them but it’s another to use violence. It takes it to another level.”
Mr Golding added: “I gave her a safe place to be and tried to help her out when I could.
“She wasn’t living somewhere as such but she could come round mine and had a change of clothes and I did her washing for her just to help the girl out, so I was not expecting that.”
The two men who attacked Mr Golding were still at large, as Tyler, of Crowland Road, Haverhill, refused to name them to police, said Mr Golding.
“Because the two blokes are still out there I’m still a bit worried about it. I’m still scared to go out in public and I’m still worried about being in my house because they know where I live.
“I have suffered mental health problems so this has put me back about two years in my recovery.”
Mr Golding added that after his ordeal he didn’t leave his home for ‘four to five weeks’ because he was ‘too scared.’
Tyler was was initially charged on March 2 with the robbery from Mr Golding.
Following the charge she then engaged with the Suffolk Constabulary’s Operation Converter team and went on to admit a further 10 offences which included a robbery on February 15, 2019, in Haverhill, a dwelling burglary at Chainey Pieces on June 5, 2018, burglary of a caravan and office on Sturmer Road on February 23, 2018, a possession of class C drug offence on February 27, 2019 and six counts of theft that took place from December 30, 2016, and September 24, 2018 on three different vulnerable men.
Tyler also admitted also two counts of dishonestly making false representation related to fraudulent purchases made using Mr Golding’s bank card.
Det con Duncan Etchells, from the Op Converter team, said: “Tyler was a scheming individual who ruthlessly preyed on vulnerable victims that she attempted to befriend.
“In one incident in December 2016 around £500 was withdrawn from a bank account without the permission of the account holder.
“It is very satisfying to see her jailed for her exploitative and ruthless activities.”
Operation Converter is an initiative aimed at encouraging offenders to admit their crimes. They have to give sufficient detail for officers to be sure they have committed the crime and these offences are then ‘taken into consideration’ at sentencing.
