This is the shocking moment a mother-of-two attacked a shop assistant with a wooden mop handle after he bravely detained her boyfriend in a citizen's arrest.
Debra McGhee, 33, set about Adam Tongo when he chased and wrestled Bradley Jackson to the floor after the victim's car was vandalised.
During the frenzied assault, which was captured on CCTV, McGhee was seen repeatedly striking Mr Tongo about the head and body before attempting to throttle him with the mop.
Mr Tongo, who had just arrived for his shift at a Shell service station in Oldham, was left gasping for air and unable to breathe until a workmate intervened to rescue him.
The victim sustained various injuries and was left with temporary blurred vision and had to take four weeks off work as a result of the beating.
The force administered during the attack caused the wooden mop handle to snap.
Police later detained McGhee and Jackson, also 33, and discovered both had a slew of previous convictions. Both had been recognised by Tongo as habitual shoplifters at the garage.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, a judge ordered footage of the beating be shown so the public could see for themselves the extent of what he called a 'prolonged and persistent' assault.
McGhee, of Werneth, Oldham was jailed for 21 months whilst Jackson, of Oldham town centre, was jailed for 26 months after being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial.
Jackson was also found guilty of criminal damage.
The assault took place at 8am on May 19, 2019, after Mr Tongo spotted McGhee and Jackson loitering at the service station shop as he arrived for work in his Toyota Yaris.
Sophie Kenny, prosecuting, said: ''He immediately recognised the two individuals as shoplifters and as he approached the male, he told him to 'go away'.
"But the male replied, 'F*** off, who are you?'. The male then lashed out and punched Mr Tongo to the right side of his jaw and the left side of his head using clenched fists before walking off.
"Mr Tongo told his colleague, Mr Javid Mahmood, to keep his eye on the female and asked her to leave.
"But the male returned to the forecourt and threw a stone at Mr Mahmood's Audi vehicle parked on the forecourt, smashing the windscreen.
''The male then picked up a traffic cone from the garage forecourt and threw this at the rear window of Mr Tongo's vehicle causing it to smash before running away.
''Mr Tongo picked up a wooden handled mop from the shop floor and chased the male and managed to restrain him in a bear hug and brought him to the ground.
''He restrained him by the wrists using both hands so had to discard the mop handle but the female picked it up. The male was telling her to hit Mr Tongo with the mop handle, so she began to strike him on the head and all over his body.
''Mr Tongo describes losing count of how many times he was struck and recalls the sound of the mop snapping. The female then started to kick him in the head and neck area, but Mr Tongo was still managing to restrain the male on the ground so the female grabbed his testicles and began striking him in that area.
"When Mr Tongo didn’t release his grip on the male, she took hold of the mop once more and placed this over his head and against his throat and began to pull back in an attempt to strangle him.
''Mr Tongo began to lose control and was struggling to breathe and collapsed to the floor with both defendants punching and kicking him causing injury to his right eye which temporarily affected his vision. Mr Adam managed to keep hold of the male until Mr Mahmood arrived who was able to take the mop handle from the female.
''These two defendants acted together and used a weapon and in respect of McGhee’s involvement, there is an element of strangulation.
''Mr Tongo describes her holding the wooden handle across his throat and pulling back, as a result, he was struggling to breathe and fell to the floor losing his grip on Mr Jackson when restraining him on the floor.''
Mr Tongo was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital where he was treated abrasions to his chest, reduced vision in the right eye a cut to his ace and swelling and bruising of the lips.
In a statement he described problems sleeping and pain in his eye and had to have three follow up appointments at an eye clinic in Rochdale.
McGhee and Jackson gave no comment in police interview. Jackson had 34 previous offences on his record including theft and failing to surrender to bail. McGhee had 14 previous offences including theft, assault and public order matters.
Kay Driver, defending, said: ''Had Mr Tongo left it then the matter would not have been so prolonged. His injuries are significant but they fall short of serious injury and impact on the victim.
"These two defendants had been using drugs and clearly, this is a joint attack on a worker in the public sector.
"Miss McGhee was placed into social care as a child and against that background she became involved in Class A drugs. She has lost her health, physical hygiene, her children and all sense of herself. She is in a very difficult place.''
But sentencing the judge Recorder Jason McAdam told McGhee: "I have some sympathy for you especially during your childhood. However, it does not excuse this offence you committed.
''This was a prolonged and persistent assault.
"He recognised you were both habitual shoplifters and he was right about that.
"The CCTV footage should be played so that everyone can see the offence you committed. Some offences are prolonged for no good reason, this offence was committed for no good reason."
