A couple are living in fear after a vicious thug who put them in hospital was freed and moved to a house – just TWO DOORS away.
Grandparents Danny and Pamela Capaldi were brutally beaten up in their own back garden in an unprovoked attack by Joshua Bryant in July 2013.
He battered the couple so severely he left them in hospital – 64-year-old Danny with a swollen brain, and his 65-year-old wife with a fractured back.
Bryant, 22, was given a suspended sentence but went on another rampage weeks later – this time attacking his own mother and sister and two police officers called to help.
He was charged with assault and sentenced to two years in prison at Bristol Crown Court in May last year but was released this April after serving 12 months.
Bryant was given a restraining order banning him from parts of north Bristol, including the Horfield area where the Capaldis live, and had been living elsewhere in the city.
But last month the National Probation Service let him move into his mother’s house which is on the same road as the couple, just two doors down, because he is ‘ill’.
The terrified pair – who were not told of the move until TWO WEEKS after he had moved in – say they are now frightened to leave the house they have lived in for nine years.
Retired dressmaker Pamela, who is now taking anti-depressants, said: “I can’t believe the probation service have done this.
“He has been in his mum’s house because he is ill, but no-one warned us before he moved back.
“I am scared to have my grandchildren to stay, I’m wary about leaving the house knowing he is capable of violence. I don’t feel safe walking the dogs after dark.”
Danny, a retired pipe fitter, added: “He’d already been there two weeks when we had the letter. It just shocked Pam to pieces.
“They moved him back in without asking us. It is wrong.
“We are only two doors away, and the garden fences are only three feet tall.”
“It worries me. It makes me angry and I’m worried about Pam – she’s my main concern.”
A victim liaison officer only informed the grandparents-of-six of Bryant’s new location after they made enquiries.
They were told he was placed at the house on Wordsworth Road, Horfield Road on health grounds because it is his old address and his mother still lives there.
Bryant’s restraining order, which will remain in place until April 2016, bans him from entering the Lockleaze, Horfield, Bishopston, Southmead and St Andrews of Bristol.
In a letter to the Capaldis, the victim liasion officer said the exclusion order remained in place and he is only allowed ‘limited’ movement around his mother’s home.
She said: “The offender will need to take some limited and escorted exercise in the local area to his parents’ home.
“The offender can walk around the area accompanied by either a medical person or his parents for short periods of time.
“The intention, long-term, is still that the offender moves out of the exclusion zone area once he has recovered.”
She added: “I can appreciate this news may be unwelcome and I am sorry if my letter causes you any distress.”
Bryant targeted the retired couple in their own garden – smashing a downstairs window and launching a savage attack on them when they went outside to investigate.
During the attack, Bryant, the yob punched Danny, who collapsed, before grabbing his wife around the throat.
He then punched her in the jaw and kicked her in the back as she lay on the ground.
Danny suffered a swollen brain and was hospitalised for two days while Pamela suffered a non-healable fracture to her spine, leaving her in constant pain.
The Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of the National Probation Service, refused to comment on the specific circumstances of Mr and Mrs Capaldi.
A spokesman said: “Public protection is our priority. Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions, and victims in the Victim Contact Scheme can request licence conditions such as exclusion zones.
“In exceptional circumstances, which affect where the offender may be safely and appropriately managed, exclusion zones may have to be re-drawn.
” Victims will be informed and the offender can be prohibited from contacting the victim.
“Any breach of licence conditions can lead to the offender being recalled to prison.”
