Boy, 14, walks free after brutal attack on Wigan gran

Wendy Feast, 52, was in Blackburn when the attack, which left her hospitalised and needing surgery, happened back in January this year.

Before 8am on Friday January 5, Wendy was on her way to open up her friend’s shop as a favour when a 14-year-old boy jumped out from an alleyway and beat her around the face and head with the wooden implement which had been spiked with nails and screws.

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The mum-of-four was robbed of the shop keys and her mobile phone and later was told that £400 had been taken from the till at the store.

She had been walking to the shop with her husband on the morning of the attack, but the pair had separated just moments before as he took another route to get to his place of work.

Lynzi Feast, Wendy’s daughter, was at her home in Lower Ince when she received the call that her mum had been attacked and was in Royal Preston Hospital.

“I didn’t know if she was alive or dead,” said the 30-year-old. “She had to have surgery on her face where there were open wounds. They were so deep.

She was in hospital from the Friday when it happened until the Sunday. She still has scars and it has affected her badly.”

Wendy, originally from New Springs, stayed with her daughter and five grandchildren in Wigan following the attack, which has left her with psychological and physical scars.

“She can’t go out shopping anymore unless I go with her,” said Lynzi.

“She’s stuck in the house, locking the doors. She’s having flashbacks all the time, I think she is suffering from PTSD.”

The teen, who police arrested just three days after the attack, lives in Blackburn.

An investigation revealed that the brutal assault had been “premeditated” after they discovered CCTV footage of the unsuspecting woman being followed the day before she was attacked in the same area.

After pleading guilty at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court, the teen - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was sentenced to a 12-month youth referral order which will includes a panel of two trained community volunteers and a member of the youth offending team.

He was also given 36 months of community service and ordered to pay £20 to the court when he turns 18.

“I’m so angry, I’m furious,” said Lynzi. “This boy who almost killed my mum has got a slap on the wrist and is allowed to go back home.

“He should have been charged with attempted murder because he ran off and left her for dead.

“I feel like our whole family has been seriously let down.”