A pensioner seen as easy prey by a drug addict was subjected to a campaign of harassment and bitten for the sake of £20.
Melissa Mason repeatedly targeted the 84-year-old, breaching court orders to stay away from him. After stealing his phone, she offered to sell it back to him but then tried to fob him off with another device.
When he refused to hand over £20, she then sank her teeth into his hand to release his grip on the cash and stole it. A court heard the victim has since died and Mason, 30, of Stretford Court, Gateshead, faced an anxious wait for months to see if she would face any charges arising from his death but she did not.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the pensioner said he had known Mason for around three years at the time and prosecutor Jon Harley said: "During that time she subjected him to a campaign of threats, harassment and pestering him for money which he attributed to her taking drugs."
She was first given a restraining order in early 2021 after stealing his phone and he made "countless" reports to the police. Mr Harley said: "Undeterred, he continued to harass and pester him and committed five breaches of the restraining order before these offences."
On January 15 last year, the victim was driving towards Gateshead town centre and passing Gateshead Police Station when he heard Mason shouting his name. She said she knew she wasn't allowed to speak to him but asked to borrow his phone to make a quick call and he agreed. She then fled with the phone.
On January 25, the pensioner got a flurry of phone calls from a withheld number and when he answered one of them Mason said she had his phone and would give it back for £20. An hour later, she turned up at his home with a different phone.
Having answered the door with £20 to get his phone back, he refused the exchange when he realised it wasn't his phone. Mr Harley said: "He went to close the door but she ran past him before he could do so.
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"She grabbed his hand holding the money and bit it forcefully, drawing blood and causing him to release the money. He grabbed her but she wriggled free and ran away."
In a victim impact statement, the pensioner said: "As a victim of crime this assault and entering my home has affected me mentally and emotionally and I don't feel safe answering my door. I'm an elderly man but proud. I'm afraid she will continue to steal and take advantage of me."
The court heard Mason has 16 previous convictions. She was first given a restraining order in March 2021 for stealing his wallet, containing £140. Then in April that year, for breaching the restraining order by attending his home, she got a community order. In May 2021 she breached the order again by attending his home and ended up being jailed for eight weeks.
In October 2021 she entered his house on the premise of paying some money back but while his back was turned she stole his wallet from his pocket. Then the following month she attended his home while police were there and she assaulted them.
For the latest offending, Mason admitted theft of a mobile phone and breaching a restraining order on January 15 2022 and breaching the restraining order, theft of money and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 25. She was sentenced to two years suspended for two years with rehabilitation.
Judge Tim Gittins told her she had an "odd relationship" with the victim and added: "For some reason you became fixated with him and how easy it was to gain from him." He added that he would give her one chance to prove she had turned a corner.
Shaun Routlege, defending, said: "She has managed to keep out of trouble for some time, albeit some of that time was spent serving a sentence. These are serious offences but her best point is her pleas.
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"She is now in a settled relationship and settled accommodation. She has had something of a nomadic life and a difficult life.
"She appears to have stopped taking drugs and kept out of trouble and has led a law-abiding life for the first time in many years. The offences are mean and sly and the court could take the view immediate imprisonment should be imposed - she could have no complaints.
"She didn't know if she was going to have one form of homicide or another and had that hanging over her for months and months."
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