Woman attacked pensioner and poured cider on disabled boy

Paula Manders came out from a church doorway and approached her victim from behind.

She grabbed a bunch of her 70-year-old victim’s hair and started to pull it in Market Place, Poulton.

It was only when the victim’s shocked husband intervened that 42-year-old Manders let go, Blackpool Magistrates were told.

He pushed the assailant to the ground – only for Manders to reach into her plastic shopping bag and produce a pair of scissors.

“The defendant was speaking but she was largely incoherent,” prosecutor Pam Smith told District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates Court.

“Passers-by had gathered and could see Manders with the scissors in her hand and when one male started to approach Manders, the victim’s husband ordered him to stand back.”

Manders then walked away from the incident and hid in a nearby bank.

Police were called and she was arrested.

Standing before magistrates, Manders admitted assault and having the bladed article – the scissors – in public.

She also admitted her third breach of a suspended jail term imposed for an assault in which she poured cider over the head of a young disabled boy in Blackpool.

Steven Duffy, defending, said: “Manders had been drinking heavily that day.

“It was a sudden and unprovoked attack on a respectable, elderly woman.

“[My client] has an alcohol problem and needs help.”

Remanding Manders in custody until she appears to be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on November 2, Judge Brailsford told her: “I have a duty to protect the public.”