Basildon sisters sentenced for vicious Clacton attack

Sophie Lucas, 28, and Ronnie Lucas, 25, kicked and punched the victim “20 to 30 times” before striking her with a glass jar on August 2, 2020.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the woman was targeted after the sisters became aware that she was the new partner of one of their ex-boyfriends.

Amelia Norman, prosecuting, said he was at the shops when the siblings launched their callous, unprovoked attack at his house in Marine Parade, Clacton.

Incident - the attack took place in Clacton

The prosecutor said Sophie and Ronnie “pulled off” the window frame before entering and attacking the woman, “delivering kicks and punches to the head approximately 20 to 30 times and pulling her hair.”

The sisters then exited out the window before returning shortly after to continue their assault, hitting the victim with a glass jar.

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Ronnie, of South Crockerford, Basildon, admitted criminal damage and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Sophie, of Turner Close, Basildon, denied the same offences but was convicted during a trial.

Attack - the incident took place in a flat on Clacton's seafront (Image: Google)

They were both handed a 14 month suspended sentence with a litany of requirements imposed upon them, including a five year restraining order made to protect the woman.

A victim personal statement read to the court on her behalf told how she has been left too afraid to leave her house.

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“Getting out of bed each day is a real struggle. Once that battle is won I then have to fight to get out the front door,” it reads.

The woman said she saw Ronnie in public after the incident and “was so scared I was going to be attacked again”.

Sentence - the Lucas sisters appeared before Chelmsford Crown Court (Image: ANDRA MACIUCA)

Recorder Gabrielle Posner said both sisters were equally involved and she found it to be a “particularly nasty incident”.

Conall Bailie, for Sophie, said the attack “was an aberration,” “isolated,” and that his client has proved she has moved on from it.

Daniel O’Malley, for Ronnie, added: “Finally she is showing the green shots of growing up. She needs to grow up, she knows that.”

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