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21
Jun
Boroughbridge woman sentenced for punching neighbour 20 times
A woman who repeatedly punched her neighbour was sentenced at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (June 19).
The woman, who lives near Boroughbridge, pleaded guilty to one offence of assault by beating.
The defendant cannot be named to protect the identity of children mentioned in court proceedings, so the Stray Ferret has chosen to refer to her as R.
Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting, told the court R and the victim are neighbours.
The women used to be friends but no longer speak to each other, but their children sometimes play together in the street.
The victim heard R talking about her to another person on the evening of May 11, the court heard.
When the victim asked R why she was talking about her, an argument broke out between the women and the defendant became abusive.
Ms Ibbotson said:
The victim said she did not want to have the conversation, but the defendant was in drink. The defendant followed the victim.
The defendant then grabbed the victim by the hair and punched her in the back of the head repeatedly. She punched her 20 times.
People intervened at the time and told R to stop.
The victim received a message on social media the following day, which was sent on R’s behalf.
The defendant said she was “really sorry” for what she did. The message added she likely would not be living in the area for much longer.
R declined to answer questions about the incident when interviewed by police, Ms Ibbotson added.
The magistrates were shown footage of the assault, but this was not played to the rest of the courtroom.
Defendant ‘lost her temper’
Andrew Tinning, defending, told the court there was “no getting away from what is shown in the footage” of the assault.
R disputes the victim’s account and claims the victim upset her son on the day of the offence, which initiated the situation, Mr Tinning said.
He added:
R heard the victim making comments about her to another neighbour.
The victim pushed R to a degree, which causes her to break and use the violence she did.
R lost her temper and knows she behaved inappropriately.
R has been a victim of domestic violence for several years, which has led her to suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder.
She was also recently served a possession notice by the housing association that owns her home and is due to lose her house as a result of the offence.
Defendant ‘was very angry’ at the time, court hears
The case was temporarily stood down for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
A probation officer said R’s account differed to the Crown Prosecution Service, as she claimed there had been a “dispute with one of the children”.
The officer told the court:
The defendant said the victim told her son to ‘f*** o**’.
She was very angry and this is what caused her to assault the victim.
The court heard R has lived in the area for a long time but has had several problems with her neighbours.
After being served notice, R went to the council for assistance.
However, as R had “made herself intentionally homeless”, the council was unable to help her, the officer said.
R also denied being drunk at the time of the offence and told the probation officer she “does not have a problem with alcohol”.
The officer added:
The defendant believes she was sticking up for her son in this case.
Before being sentenced, R told the magistrates:
I have lost everything.
The defendant was handed a 12-month community order, which requires her to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and an 80-day alcohol monitoring requirement.
R was also ordered to pay £114 in compensation to the victim.
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