These distressing photographs show
the horrific injuries inflicted upon a grandmother who asked a drunken
thug not to kick her dog.
Donna Matthews, 43, suffered a shattered skull, lost one eye, and will lose the sight in the other because of the unprovoked attack with a fence post covered in rusty nails at the hands of jobless Gerard Finn, 28.
Her injuries were so bad that had to have four operations to rebuild her fragmented eye socket, and doctors have said she will lose all sight in her remaining eye within five years.
Finn was found guilty of causing Mrs
Matthews grievous bodily harm and sentenced to 14 years in jail at Derby
Crown Court earlier this month.
Jurors heard how it was 10.30pm on January 13 last year when Mrs Matthews heard her dog barking outside her home in central Derby and went outside in her pyjamas to investigate.
She said: 'I'd opened the door to let Timmy out before we locked up and I heard him yelping, so I walked around the side of the house to see what was wrong and I saw him [Finn] kicking Timmy.
'I shouted over "What are you doing?" and that is when he went off on one.
'He was eating a burger and chucked it on the floor, then he ripped a panel off the fence opposite and came at me.
'I don't remember the rest. I woke up in hospital two days later and didn't think it was real. I did not understand what had happened - I still don't.
'Putting the dog out on an evening was the norm. Everyone round the street loved Timmy.'
Mrs Matthews' partner Paul Taylor, 52, said he went out too but escaped injury.
He said: 'He tried to attack both of us. Unfortunately he missed me and with the second swing he caught Donna. It could have been me.
'Being the coward that he is, he just ran off.'
Mrs Matthews had to have four
operations after the attack. She lost her left eye and had to have a
titanium plate inserted in her head, which has left her with no feeling
down the left side of her face.
Doctors say the bones are so shattered in her skull that fitting an artificial eye would be impossible. And they have said the strain on her remaining eye is so great that she will lose all sight within five years.
Now the mother of two has been left virtually housebound, stripped of her independence and too afraid to go out.
She said: 'I think about the attack every day. It has dramatically changed my life: I can't do anything now and struggle with everything.
'Within five years I will be totally blind and I will never get the feeling back in my face.
'I don't like looking at myself in the mirror, and find it upsetting. Life is never going to be the same. I am struggling to come to terms with this.
'I don't have a life anymore. He has ruined my life. I don't go out, I can't drive - I don't do anything.'
She says her 22-year-old son, Aaron, was so traumatised by the attack he couldn't look at her, so she wore an eye patch.
'He would look down instead of look me in the eye,' she said.
Earlier this month Mrs Matthews faced her attacker in court.
She said: 'He was laughing the whole way through, from start to finish. It was horrible - to see him in court laughing like that was sick.'
Mrs Matthews is too frightened to go back to her home and has been staying with her daughter, Jodie Smith, 21 in Alfreton.
Mrs
Smith, a mother of three, said: 'It makes me angry. He may have got 14
years and he is off the streets, but he will still have a life in prison
- my mum has no life now.
'She won't have photos taken, she won't go out for a drink. She used to go out for meals and parties but not anymore. She even missed my sons' christenings.'
Mr Taylor said Finn's attack had ruined his and his partner's lives.
He said: 'We don't go out or do anything together anymore. I can't get her to go out. She is too scared.
'Even small things like going for a meal - she will not go out in a public place. It is a combination of the fear and people looking.
'Finn has got what he deserved,
but he could have got life and it would not have made a difference. It
won't bring Donna's sight back or her confidence.'
After attacking Mrs Matthews, Finn ran home, but was arrested after police viewed CCTV footage near the scene and found his DNA on the burger he threw to the ground outside her house.
He had been involved in an assault on a pub landlord earlier that day, and was drunk when he attacked Mrs Matthews, the court heard.
Finn, who is originally from Belfast, had a string of previous convictions for violence including making threats to kill, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage.
After moving to Derby, Finn was convicted of affray in 2010, with an offence of criminal damage the next year. At the time of the attack, he was on bail for another alleged offence.
Judge Michael Fowler told him: 'This last offence demonstrates the ease with which you can cause really serious harm to members of the public.
'I have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion you are a dangerous man. Your history demonstrates that for most of your life, violence is near the surface.'
Donna Matthews, 43, suffered a shattered skull, lost one eye, and will lose the sight in the other because of the unprovoked attack with a fence post covered in rusty nails at the hands of jobless Gerard Finn, 28.
Her injuries were so bad that had to have four operations to rebuild her fragmented eye socket, and doctors have said she will lose all sight in her remaining eye within five years.
Donna Matthews suffered appalling injuries in the attack, left, which resulted in her losing her eye, right
Jurors heard how it was 10.30pm on January 13 last year when Mrs Matthews heard her dog barking outside her home in central Derby and went outside in her pyjamas to investigate.
She said: 'I'd opened the door to let Timmy out before we locked up and I heard him yelping, so I walked around the side of the house to see what was wrong and I saw him [Finn] kicking Timmy.
'I shouted over "What are you doing?" and that is when he went off on one.
'He was eating a burger and chucked it on the floor, then he ripped a panel off the fence opposite and came at me.
'I don't remember the rest. I woke up in hospital two days later and didn't think it was real. I did not understand what had happened - I still don't.
Gerard Finn, 28, was jailed for 14 years after attacking the Derby grandmother with a fence post, leaving her blinded in one eye
Mrs Matthews' partner Paul Taylor, 52, said he went out too but escaped injury.
He said: 'He tried to attack both of us. Unfortunately he missed me and with the second swing he caught Donna. It could have been me.
'Being the coward that he is, he just ran off.'
Mrs Matthews and her daughter Jodie, 21, on her wedding day before the attack left her disfigured and blinded
Doctors say the bones are so shattered in her skull that fitting an artificial eye would be impossible. And they have said the strain on her remaining eye is so great that she will lose all sight within five years.
Now the mother of two has been left virtually housebound, stripped of her independence and too afraid to go out.
She said: 'I think about the attack every day. It has dramatically changed my life: I can't do anything now and struggle with everything.
'Within five years I will be totally blind and I will never get the feeling back in my face.
'I don't like looking at myself in the mirror, and find it upsetting. Life is never going to be the same. I am struggling to come to terms with this.
'I don't have a life anymore. He has ruined my life. I don't go out, I can't drive - I don't do anything.'
She says her 22-year-old son, Aaron, was so traumatised by the attack he couldn't look at her, so she wore an eye patch.
'He would look down instead of look me in the eye,' she said.
Earlier this month Mrs Matthews faced her attacker in court.
She said: 'He was laughing the whole way through, from start to finish. It was horrible - to see him in court laughing like that was sick.'
Mrs Matthews is too frightened to go back to her home and has been staying with her daughter, Jodie Smith, 21 in Alfreton.
A view of the street in central Derby where Mrs Matthews was attacked by drunken Gerard Finn last January
'She won't have photos taken, she won't go out for a drink. She used to go out for meals and parties but not anymore. She even missed my sons' christenings.'
Mr Taylor said Finn's attack had ruined his and his partner's lives.
He said: 'We don't go out or do anything together anymore. I can't get her to go out. She is too scared.
'Even small things like going for a meal - she will not go out in a public place. It is a combination of the fear and people looking.
Sentencing Finn at Derby Crown Court, pictured,
Judge Michael Fowler said: 'For most of your life, violence is near the
surface.'
After attacking Mrs Matthews, Finn ran home, but was arrested after police viewed CCTV footage near the scene and found his DNA on the burger he threw to the ground outside her house.
He had been involved in an assault on a pub landlord earlier that day, and was drunk when he attacked Mrs Matthews, the court heard.
Finn, who is originally from Belfast, had a string of previous convictions for violence including making threats to kill, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage.
After moving to Derby, Finn was convicted of affray in 2010, with an offence of criminal damage the next year. At the time of the attack, he was on bail for another alleged offence.
Judge Michael Fowler told him: 'This last offence demonstrates the ease with which you can cause really serious harm to members of the public.
'I have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion you are a dangerous man. Your history demonstrates that for most of your life, violence is near the surface.'