THE Good Samaritan who endured an anxious wait for blood results after being repeatedly bitten by a HIV positive shoplifter said his attacker was “growling like a dog.”
Brave Andy Smith, who received a partial all-clear from doctors just one day before homeless Aaron Hoey was sentenced to 12 months, has also criticised the aftercare he received and the length of Hoey’s prison term.
Andy, who is in his 50s, was attacked after going to the aid of a young female shopworker who was challenging Hoey outside Iceland in Poole Road, Westbourne, on August 7.
Hoey, 38, and homeless, was recently sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court, after admitting charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and theft.
Andy, who is still awaiting test results for Hepatitis C, told the Daily Echo: “This guy suspect started pushing the woman so I intervened.
“I had hold of him, I was trying to restrain him. All I came in for was to buy some lemons, now I’ve got this guy swearing and spitting at me.
“He said ‘******* let go of me you old ****’. If he hadn’t called me old, I’d have probably let him go, but I thought ‘you definitely aren’t getting let go now’.
“He tried to punch me, then he pushes me and I crack my head against the wall. Once I’m on the floor, he’s on top of me, biting me.
“He was biting me on the head and growling, like he was a dog.
“I was covered in blood.”
After Hoey fled the scene on foot, Andy - who suffered a stroke eight years ago - decided to get into his mobility car and search for him.
“It had been 20 minutes and no police had turned up,” he said.
More than two hours later, while sitting in the Westbourne pub with pals, Andy spotted Hoey crossing the road.
“I said to my mate, ‘ I cannot believe it, that’s him’, ‘I’m going to hit him as hard as I can, the police aren’t coming.’ My mate told me to give the police another ring. The operator said she knew about the earlier assault. I told her that unless police got here quicker than the 20 minutes it took them to not turn up earlier, I was going to hit him. The police arrived within two minutes and arrested the guy.
“Then the policeman came across and told me to go to the hospital. He said ‘I’ve got bad news for you, this bloke is known to us, he is HIV positive and has Hepatitis B and C’. I thought, ‘great.’”
Andy, who attended Hoey’s sentencing, now says 12 months is just not long enough.
“This guy has a string of convictions, he is dangerous and I’m sure he will seriously hurt someone, it is just a matter of time,” he said.
“I’m annoyed about the way the whole thing was handled. If I hadn’t been in court the judge wouldn’t even have known about the tests I’ve been waiting for. If a guy who knows he has Hepatitis bites you, then he is using a weapon.
“It would have been nice to get a call from Iceland as well, from anyone there, as I am a regular in the store. When I went back later that day they gave me my lemons for free.
“I still remember two older women at the scene saying, ‘he was trying to bite your face off.’”
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