Four Scarborough women sentenced for vicious attack that left woman blind

Three Scarborough sisters and their friend have been sentenced for a vicious and unprovoked attack on another woman that has left her with life-changing injuries.

Toni Lee Patterson, 32, of Cross Street, was jailed for eight years, her sister Ellie, 20, of Springhill Road was sentence to seven years and three months in a Young Offenders Institute, another sister, Abbie, 19, also of Springhill Road, received a suspended sentence, and their friend, Tania Louise Stott, 35, also of Cross Street, was jailed for one year.

The victim, a woman in her 50s, was enjoying a night out in Scarborough in the early hours of 28 October 2023, when she was set upon by the four women. She was punched and kicked to the point that she became unconscious. 

The victim was not known to the defendants and had just bought food from a nearby takeaway when she was attacked on St Thomas Street.

Not content to see her laid on the ground unconscious, they repeatedly punched and kicked her to her head and body.

All four women pleaded guilty to affray and Toni and Ellie Patterson pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The group had earlier been refused entry to a nearby bar and were abusive to the doormen before walking away towards their victim who had no connection to them at all.

Ellie Patterson was the first to approach the victim before punching her to the face, grabbing her hair and dragging her across the pavement. Toni Patterson then joined in and grabbed hold of the victim’s hair, before the pair dragged her towards the road, where she fell into the carriageway as a friend tried to protect her.  

Ellie Patterson then kicked the victim in her back while she was lying in the road unable to move. Toni Patterson then stamped on the victim’s head twice, before kicking the victim fully in her face as Abbie Patterson stood over the victim’s motionless body.

A number of people began to congregate, some to try and protect the victim, others as curious, drunken bystanders. Toni Patterson then pushed through the growing crowd and once again kicked the unconscious victim in the head

Stott, who had not been involved until this point, other than the initial disturbance with the doormen, then got involved and began pushing people out of the way.

At this point the victim tried to raise her head off the floor, appearing dazed, before Toni Patterson again kicked her in the head with full force. Ellie Patterson then kicked the victim to the body.

A mass brawl developed and as witnesses tried to give first aid to the victim, Stott pushed through the crowd and kicked the victim in her back. Despite attempts by door staff to restrain her, she repeatedly kicked out and spat at the door staff.

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment to a facial fracture and a bleed on her brain. She was already blind in her left eye and this attack has left her partially sighted in her right eye.

Investigating officer, Police Staff Investigator Paul Thompson, of Scarborough CID, said: “This shocking and unprovoked attack has changed the victim’s life forever, not only has she lost most of her sight, she has to rely on her family to do the most simplest of tasks.

“The four defendants had the audacity to claim it was out of character because they were drunk. There is simply no excuse whatsoever for what they did and the very least they could do was to plead guilty to this disgusting act of unprovoked violence.

“In a statement read out at court the victim said that she daily grieves for the ‘old me’ that she will never see again and that she doesn’t know what the future holds for her and misses being able to do the basic things she once took for granted. 

“I applaud her bravery. She must now face the future almost blind, not to mention the psychological trauma she has endured through no fault of her own. But she has the support of those around her and I’m sure she will succeed, despite the ordeal that she has gone through.

“The four women are now rightly facing the consequences of their behaviour.”

The victim also praised the emergency services in her statement thanking the police, the ambulance service, the hospital, specialists and nursing staff who “got me through the worse time of my life.”

The women were sentenced at York Crown Court on 7 March 2025:

• Toni Lee Patterson was jailed for eight years for causing grievous bodily harm and 18 months for affray.
• Ellie Patterson was sentenced to seven years and three months’ custody in a Young Offenders Institute for causing grievous bodily harm, and 18 months’ custody for affray.
• Tania Stott was jailed for one year for affray.
• Abbie Patterson was sentenced to four months in a Young Offenders Institute, suspended for 18 months. She was also given an Alcohol Abstinence Requirement and monitoring requirement, ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and issued with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.