A 27-year-old man who severely beat up a NS conductor, leaving her with several facial fractures, has been jailed for one year to be followed by treatment in a secure psychiatric unit.

Swendly R, who has a long criminal record and was described as a minor as psychotic, attacked the woman while she was checking tickets on board a train.

R’s lawyer had called for his client to be acquitted because the victim could not remember the attack, apart from meeting a ‘difficult passenger’ in a first class carriage.

However, eyewitnesses, camera footage and blood on R’s shoes were enough to find him guilty, the court ruled.

The attack led to a nationwide campaign by railway staff for better security measures. The victim has had to undergo several operations and it is unclear if she will ever fully recover, the court was told.