Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Friday 7th March 2025, at 19:15hrs
Three sisters and their friend have been sentenced for a brutal and unprovoked assault that left a woman in her 50s with life-altering injuries, including significant sight loss.
The attack, described by police as “shocking and unprovoked,” occurred in the early hours of October 28, 2023, on St. Thomas Street in Scarborough.
Toni Lee Patterson, 32, received an eight-year prison sentence for grievous bodily harm and 18 months for affray. Her sister, Ellie Patterson, 20, was sentenced to seven years and three months in a Young Offenders Institute for grievous bodily harm and 18 months for affray. Abbie Patterson, 19, received a four-month suspended sentence. Their friend, Tonia Louise Stott, 35, was jailed for one year for affray.
The victim, who was unknown to the attackers, had just purchased food from a takeaway when she was set upon by the four women.
The attack began with Ellie Patterson punching the victim in the face and dragging her by her hair. Toni Patterson then joined the assault, and together, they dragged the victim into the road.
The violence escalated as the victim lay helpless in the carriageway. Ellie Patterson kicked her in the back, and Toni Patterson stamped on her head twice before kicking her in the face.
Abbie Patterson stood by as the victim lay motionless. Even after the victim was unconscious, Toni Patterson continued to kick her in the head. Tonia Stott, who had previously only been involved in a disturbance with doormen, then joined the fray, pushing people aside and later kicking the victim in the back.
The victim suffered a facial fracture and a bleed on the brain. Already blind in one eye, she has now been left partially sighted in her remaining eye.
“This shocking and unprovoked attack has changed the victim’s life forever,” said Police Staff Investigator Paul Thompson of Scarborough CID.
“She has to rely on her family to do the most simplest of tasks.”
In a victim impact statement read in court, the victim expressed her daily grief for the life she has lost and her fear for the future.
She also expressed gratitude toward the emergency services and hospital staff.
The sentencing at York Crown Court brought a measure of justice, but the victim’s life has been irrevocably altered by the horrific violence inflicted upon her.
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