A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for an attack on a pensioner in her own home which left her with ‘life devastating injuries’
Jeffrey Lloyd of Pontardullais previously pleaded guilty to Grievous Bodily Harm and robbery of Ruth Yandle who was 72-years-old at the time of incident in January this year.
T/DCI Matthew Davies said: “On returning from taking her grandson to school Mrs Yandle entered her home and was attacked with a crowbar by Lloyd.
“He then stole her handbag and made off leaving her fighting for her life in a pool of blood.
“The incident led to a three week hunt for the person responsible. We carried out extensive enquiries and I would like to thank the community of Pontardullais for their support in helping us piece together what happened to Ruth.
“It is clear that Lloyd hit her a number of times which resulted in injuries described by a doctor who treated her as ‘life destroying.”
With help from the community, detectives were able to trace Lloyd’s movements, recover Mrs Yandle’s handbag and the weapon used in the attack.
While carrying out house to house enquiries officers spotted the bike used by the suspect in Lloyd’s flat and when it was later searched they discovered the rucksack and the distinctive red gloves the suspect was wearing in the CCTV footage.
T/DCI Davies added: “Ruth is a retired teacher and is well respected in the village.
“I know this incident caused significant concern amongst the community. Myself and my team were dedicated throughout this investigation to bring the offender to justice and I hope the lengthy sentence Lloyd has received helps gives some reassurance and sends a clear message.”
Family statement
We make this statement on behalf of my mother as she is still to unwell to provide any statement or information to the police.
When this happened mum was a 72 year old woman, 5′ 2″ tall and of small build, physically, she would have had no chance against her attacker.
As a person, my mother was an independent woman and although a retired teacher, was still happily active in the community, tutoring many young children through their GCSE’s and A levels.
Mum had a great sense of humour, dry wit and was fun to be around, whilst also believing in living a life of discipline and morals, which came through in abundance in her teaching career.
The fact is, mum was a well-loved person in her community, she enjoyed sport, dinner with her friends, tutoring, especially children with difficulties, like dyslexia. From this she gained and had many, many friends.
This was mum up to the morning of the 9th January 2019. On this day her life was taken away from her. She may be alive, but we as family members grieve for her.
Mum can now barely read or write, needs 24/7 care and will now lead a life of somebody caring for her, where as she used cared for everybody else.
Our family has been torn apart and this was the reason she lived and breathed, to keep our family together. She has been deprived of the rest of her life and her children and grandchildren have been deprived of her humour and her wisdom, which greatly enriched our lives.
We have lost our mum and ‘Mamgu’.
