Paralysed stunt rider’s wife jailed over assault

Samantha Kidd, 44, pleaded guilty last month to four counts of assault by beating of the 54-year-old wheelchair-bound star days before she was due to face a two-day trial.

Yesterday, Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard unemployed Kidd tried to throttle him, slapped him on the face and chest, kicked him, and called him a “f****** spastic”.

Prosecutor Suzanne Soros said on one occasion Kidd, who was paralysed and brain-damaged when a stunt went wrong in August 1996, was left shaking and “absolutely hysterical” by her actions.

Kidd, of High Street, Seaford, East Sussex, showed no emotion as district judge William Ashworth sentenced her to five months prison, concurrent on each count, and imposed a restraining order.

The court heard in one incident, a witness reported Kidd raining blows on him after she was woken up.

The witness said in a statement that Kidd had appeared to have “lost the plot” and had to be forced off him.

On another occasion, Ms Soros said Kidd kicked Mr Kidd in retaliation after a carer had difficulty helping him out of a car and into a wheelchair.

She also slapped his chest and called him a “f***ing spastic”, a remark she claimed was what he referred to himself as, the court was told.

In a separate incident, the court heard Kidd slapped Mr Kidd’s face in “retaliation and frustration” at his hand coming off a rail and coming into contact with her.

On another occasion, a witness heard Mr Kidd call out to them, and found Kidd with her hands round the front of his throat.

The witness yelled out, demanding to know what she was doing. A struggle ensued and Kidd had to be forced to let go of her estranged husband who was “absolutely hysterical”, Ms Soros said.

Alissa Scott-Beckett, defending, said: “She found herself still loving Mr Kidd but not being able to mentally cope with the stresses that the relationship had.”