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Dorchester man found guilty of attacking woman who didn’t tell him ‘good morning’
Ian Atkinson walked by a woman in Dorchester when he said “when people say good morning to you, you should say hi you crazy (expletive)," prosecutors said.
A Dorchester man was sentenced two years in prison after he was found guilty of attacking a woman because she didn’t say “good morning” to him, officials said.
Ian Atkinson, 34, was found guilty of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Suffolk Superior Court Monday. He will serve two years in state prison followed by two years of probation, the Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
In July of last year, Atkinson walked by a woman watering her plants on Balsam Street in Dorchester when he called out to her and said “when people say good morning to you, you should say hi you crazy (expletive),” the DA said.
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The prosecutors said Atkinson then repeatedly punched her in the face and threw her against a fence. He also drove his black Mercedes towards her and almost struck her.
“For this victim, a pleasant summer morning descended into a violent and cruel ordeal for the most inexplicable of reasons,” Hayden said in a statement.
The woman was recording the encounter, and Atkinson only stopped attacking once she bit him. While he was driving away, the woman was able to capture his license plate number, officials said previously.
She was transported to the hospital with a broken nose, bruises on her head and face, and a hemorrhage of her left eye.
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“Even as she was being attacked, she had the presence of mind to record video, and that decision, along with her brave testimony, provided enough evidence for the judge to make his decision,” Hayden said. “I join all the members of the community in thanking this survivor for her courage.”
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