A 50-year-old Cowdenbeath woman attacked a female neighbour who got involved in a row about noise from a motorcycle.
Wendy Guthrie dragged Agnes Moffat to the ground by her hair and kneed her in the stomach during the incident in the town’s Rosehill Crescent on August 9.
Guthrie appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing, a month after telling a sheriff she could not afford to pay a £650 fine he had imposed for the crime.
The court heard this time round that a social worker agreed a financial penalty was unsuitable.
‘What’s your beef with me?’
Prosecutor Laura McManus told the court a male neighbour was outside cleaning his motorcycle on the evening in question when Guthrie came over to shout at him.
The female neighbour then came out and shouted over at Guthrie, who then approached her stating: “What’s your beef with me?”
The fiscal depute continued: “The accused dragged Ms Moffat to the ground by the hair and kneed her to the stomach while on the ground.”
When police later arrived to arrest Guthrie, she started shouting and swearing and kicking out with her legs.
The fiscal said Guthrie then shouted: “If I am back here tonight, I am going to kill the lot of them”.
Guthrie previously pled guilty to assaulting Ms Moffat by seizing her by the hair, dragging her to the ground and striking her on the body with her knee.
She also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, making threats of violence and kicking out towards police officers upon arrest.
Motorcycle work
Defence lawyer Alexander Flett said the background to the incident was a neighbour issue.
He said the male neighbour has a habit of working on buying, selling and “doing up” cars and using all of the communal parking areas, meaning visitors to Guthrie cannot find a parking space.
The solicitor said it appears someone else in the block made a report to the council about it and he thought it was Guthrie.
Mr Flett said it was described that the motorcycle was idling in a space outside her house at 8:20pm and that the engine was deliberately revved noisily because he blamed her for the complaint to the council.
The lawyer said: “She remonstrated with him, which led to the (female neighbour) involving herself in the matter”.
Mr Flett said his client shows genuine regret for her behaviour.
Socially isolated
Referring to a social work report, the lawyer said she is “fairly socially isolated” and has been referred for support over alcohol misuse and that the report recommendation is for a short period of supervision.
The solicitor said his client had been out of trouble for 20 years and was disappointed to find herself in court.
He also highlighted that the report made reference to her finances and that a social worker agreed a financial penalty was unsuitable.
Sheriff Francis Gill told Guthrie: “Whatever background issues there are between you and neighbours, you can not resolve them in the way you did”.
He sentenced Guthrie to carry out a community payback order with a supervision requirement for nine months.
The sheriff said this would allow her to address her alcohol misuse in particular.
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