Ex-police officer jailed after cattle prod attack

A former police officer who attacked her neighbours with knives, a coal shovel and a metal pole will be sent to prison.

Paula Attwood-Rees, 59, broke into her neighbour's home while armed with a metal pole, two knives and a fully working cattle prod on 30 May.

The court heard that the former South Wales Police officer smashed a shovel over the neighbour's head to prevent her from calling 999.

Attwood-Rees has been sentenced to six years and two months, and she will serve two-thirds of it in prison.

Paula Attwood-Rees has been sentenced to six years and two months, and she will serve two-thirds in prison

Attwood-Rees and her wife Alison moved into the terraced house on Alexandra Terrace in Monkswood, Monmouthshire, three years ago.

On the day of the attack, Attwood-Rees had been convicted at Newport Magistrates Court of causing criminal damage to cars belonging to Jacqueline Teague, 69, and her husband Chris, 70 in August 2023. The couple had given evidence against her.

Later that day, the couple were sitting down to their evening meal when Attwood-Rees broke into their home.

She kicked her way through the French windows into the couple's living room and punched Mrs Teague in the face, breaking her nose and slicing her wrist open with one of two knives, the court heard.

Mr Teague tried to stop her and was hit with an iron poker and was slashed with a knife.

Attwood-Rees told them that she was going to kill the pair of them. The attack then continued outside the front of the couple's house.

She then attacked Mrs Teague by smashing her over the head with a shovel in an attempt to stop her calling 999.

The attack ended only when passing motorists who saw her smashing Mrs Teague over the head with the shovel intervened.

Clare Wilkes, prosecuting, told the court that the couple thought they were going to be murdered and said the impact of the attack on them had been profound.

Attwood-Rees used a cattle prod, along with other items, to attack the couple

A compilation of CCTV camera and driver dashcams showed how Mrs Teague escaped from the house and went to the front garden near the road.

Attwood-Rees was seen picking up a shovel from the couple's patio and walked to the front of the house where she began smashing the couple's two cars parked on the other end of the street.

She hit the cars with such force there were holes in the bonnet of one of the vehicles.

Dashcam footage from cars driving past captured the moment Attwood-Rees brought the shovel down hard on Mrs Teague's head, where she was shown falling to her knees.

At the time of the attack, Mrs Teague had already suffered two strokes, and she has recently suffered a third.

Cars came to a halt on both sides of road and drivers tried to restrain Attwood-Rees.

When police arrived, she kicked PC Wayne Harrington as he was trying to put handcuffs on her.

The couple were treated for their injuries in hospital. The court heard the husband and wife had lived at their home for 38 years and had brought up their family there.

Both said they now feel nervous about being in unfamiliar places, suffer disturbed sleep and have moved out of the house they loved because they no longer feel safe.

The court was told Attwood-Rees has previous convictions dating back to 2008 when she failed to provide a specimen of breath.

She was also convicted of assaulting two police officers and was given a community order.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins noted this was the third time she had been convicted of assaulting police officers.

The court heard she has suffered from PTSD after serving as a response officer with South Wales Police.

It was also told she sustained a frontal lobe brain injury which experts say can alter personalities and can have an impact on decision making and emotional regulation.

The court was told Attwood-Rees and her wife were now selling the property and moving "further north."

The judge told her she was "violent and abusive".

"You could not be reasoned with. Despite being a retired police officer you treated them and your former colleagues with contempt.

"You caused people to sustain serious injuries which will stay with them for years," he said.

Attwood-Rees will serve two-thirds of her sentence in prison. The remainder will be spent on licence.

An indefinite restraining order was also issued, banning her from contacting the couple.