A 14-year-old girl has been given a four month detention order for punching an 87-year-old woman on a bus in south London.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at Croydon Youth Court on Thursday after she pleaded guilty to attacking Marion Endacott.
The court heard Mrs Endacott was left "petrified" by the attack on the 166 bus on October 16.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mrs Endacott said she is frightened to travel by bus and looks over her shoulder when she approaches bus stops.
She also said she had started to sleep with the lights on and moved temporarily into her daughter's home after the attack.
She added that she wanted to leave her home in Coulsdon following the incident.
"I get scared when I hear a creak of the door," she said in a statement. "When I'm out the house especially near bus stops, I’m petrified of bumping into the girl. I can see her fist come towards me."
The girl's defence solicitor Raheema Jamal said the teenager accepted her actions were uncalled for.
District Judge Peter Greenfield said he had no choice but to give the girl a detention order because of persistent offending after another assault against a care worker last February.
In January she also damaged a coffee table by throwing it against a window.
The judge said he couldn't understand why the teenager attacked Mrs Endacott, who was described in court as "frail and elderly."
He also said another bus passenger offered to pay the girl's fare after the driver refused to move off when she got on the bus without a ticket.
Mrs Endacott was left with bruising and swelling to her eye following the attack.
District Judge Greenfield said the “random” attack was so serious because of the risk of the elderly woman falling back, which could have proved fatal.
He said: "As far as I'm concerned you had no reason to attack this innocent lady. You knew she was vulnerable."
She was punched after the bus came to a stop when the 14-year-old and another teenager boarded.
Although the friend paid, the defendant didn't and challenged the bus driver leading to a stand-off as the bus came to a halt.
The court heard that Mrs Endacott told the bus driver she was only a couple of stops away from home, causing the teenager to smirk.
The elderly woman said "It's not funny" and was then punched by her attacker.
In a previous statement the girl said she was pushed by the victim and retaliated.
At one point during the hearing the 14-year-old was handed a tissue to dab her eye as the court heard how the incident unfolded.
The girl's lawyer asked the judge to consider an 18-month youth rehabilitation order as her client was "terrified" of going to prison.
She said the 14-year-old had no history of violence but admitted a "pattern was emerging" after a previous assault conviction last February.
In January she was also charged with criminal damage after she threw a wooden table at a window.
Ms Jamal said: "She has not had the benefit of anger management and there has been nothing done to address these issues."
The teenager is expected to spend two months in detention and the remainder of her sentence on a training order.
