THE elderly victim of a horrific robbery has hit out after her attacker won a reduction in his prison sentence.

Great-grandmother of nine Jean Simpson, 74, was left for dead after she was robbed near her Clifton home by a heroin addict on a desperate rampage for cash.

Simon Watts, 27, of Sirocco Court, Fossway, was jailed for nine years after he admitted the "sickening and brutal" attack which left a trainer mark on the pensioner's forehead.

But a senior judge at London's Criminal Appeal Court said the overall term was too long and cut his sentence to seven years.

Mrs Simpson, who still suffers head pains from where she was punched and kicked, said: "The judge wasn't on the receiving end, was he?

"The Probation Service told me he could get parole in 2008, but if they can cut his sentence like this you never know when he's going to be out.

"When I applied for compensation they wanted photographs of the scar on my forehead. It's not that big, but you can't see the mental scars.

"I'm scared to go out alone. I haven't got my confidence back. My son takes me everywhere.

"I've still got pain from where he punched me around my eyes."

The court heard how Watts went on a 75-minute crime spree on January 24, 2004, which culminated in the attack on Mrs Simpson when he grabbed her bag in an alleyway. He admitted theft, attempted theft, two attempted robberies, robbery and wounding with intent. But Mr Justice Bodey said he should be given credit for owning up straight away in a police interview.

Watts' first target was a Spar shop at a garage in York, where he grabbed items before fleeing. Minutes later he tried to grab a till in another shop off Burton Stone Lane.

Five minutes later, he went into a third shop nearby, where he grabbed the assistant and tried to head-butt him before trying to snatch cash.

Watts then demanded the purse of a 60-year-old woman who was pushing her grandchild in a pram. When she refused, he started to open the cover of the pram, but ran off when she shouted at him.

Finally, he attacked Mrs Simpson. A witness said he punched her four or five times, leaving her unconscious. He then went to a friend's home and said he needed drugs before head-butting the front door.

When police arrested him he was said to be "delusional and ranting".

Speaking about the aftermath of the attack, Mrs Simpson added: "I think it certainly shook him because he told the police he thought I was dead. Maybe he has learned his lesson.

"He went for older people because they could not retaliate. But I couldn't run away either."

Updated: 10:05 Monday, January 24, 2005