72-year-old jailed over granddaughter’s hug freed

A 72-year-old woman jailed for hugging her granddaughter in breach of a court order banning contact has been freed by a judge.

Kathleen Danby said she had been through “a humiliating ordeal”, which had seen her “bundled” from a Ken Dodd concert and locked up in prison.

She appeared in custody yesterday to make a case against her three-month jail sentence, handed down earlier this year at Birmingham’s Court of Protection.

In April, a judge sent the pensioner to prison in her absence after watching CCTV evidence of her greeting the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, with a hug outside a pub.

Mrs Danby’s solicitor, Sarah Huntbach, said her client ‘‘sincerely apologised’’ for being in the town where her granddaughter now lives. She said the pensioner was there for the day “to meet a friend” and, as she waited outside a pub, her granddaughter — who has a learning disability and emotional difficulties — approached her.

While not accepting she had intended to meet her granddaughter, Mrs Danby “apologised for any nuisance that has arisen as a consequence”.

Judge Dowding said it was “very sad” that Mrs Danby had “failed to comply” with the court orders, which evidence showed had had “a detrimental effect” on the granddaughter’s behaviour, “with consequences serious and profound”.

However, she said it was Mrs Danby’s right “to purge her contempt” before the court.

The spirited pensioner has been in custody since her arrest on Sunday in Liverpool, where she had been enjoying a performance by comedian Ken Dodd.

She was escorted in to court by four security officers, and wearing handcuffs, but smiled and looked around as she entered.

Contempt of court proceedings were brought against Mrs Danby by Derbyshire County Council, which is responsible for looking after the 19-year-old.