A 36-year-old mum bit a former friend’s face in a Kirkcaldy bar after her daughter was insulted, a court was told.
Fern Wilson reacted when the other woman made the insulting remark in O’Connells in the town’s High Street on April 19 this year.
Wilson appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to plead guilty to assaulting the woman by biting her on the face to her injury.
Prosecutor Matthew Knapp told the court Wilson approached the other woman in O’Connells at around 11.30pm and the slur about her young daughter’s appearance was whispered in here ear.
The fiscal depute said: “It seems she had bitten the complainer on the right cheek and that bite had broken the skin.”
Mr Knapp said the woman went to examine her injury but continued her night out in another club.
Police later contacted Wilson and she explained to them what happened and referred to the insult about her daughter.
After being charged with the offence, she replied to say she was “completely goaded”, before adding: “I have got ADHD and don’t know how to deal with it.”
She said she had been at a music festival all day and was drunk.
Defence lawyer David McLaughlin said the pair “used to be friends” but Wilson did not like the lifestyle her former pal was leading.
He said Wilson extricated herself from the friendship but the other woman took the chance to try and goad Wilson in the lead up to the assault.
Mr McLaughlin said: “The comment made appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back”.
The solicitor added: “It’s clear from speaking to her it is an overreaction, she let herself down”.
He noted that Wilson, of Kirkcaldy, has never been before a court before.
Sheriff Steven Borthwick acknowledged the background, Wilson’s early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions and fined her £200.
Brothers in arms
Brothers from Montrose ended up in court together after one attacked a man in Angus and the other intimidated him into not reporting it to police. Teenager Sean Docherty punched his victim around 20 times before his brother, Commonwealth medal-winning boxer John Docherty left the man so scared he and his family fled to temporary accommodation.
Brandished broken bottle
A drunken thug who headbutted a female police officer, dished out homophobic abuse to a stranger and pushed shop staff has been spared a jail term.
James Dunnigan was in the throes of a crippling addiction to alcohol when he committed the unsavoury crimes between June and November 2024.
On one occasion, he brandished two glass bottles – one of which was broken – while behaving abusively before headbutting an officer.
The 34-year-old made homophobic slurs on Barrack Street on June 20 before he was grabbed by police.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Dunnigan grabbed the officer’s body armour before headbutting her.
He also pled guilty to behaving abusively in a similar manner at The Glass Bucket, St Andrews St and assaulting a worker at Morrisons, Charleston Drive.
Solicitor Larry Flynn said Dunnigan, of Spey Drive, had breached a previously-imposed community payback order because he had relapsed into alcohol abuse.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “He has straight away crossed the custody threshold.
“That’s terrifying for members of the public out enjoying a few drinks when here’s this man out of control with a broken bottle, which could be devastating, while making homophobic remarks.”
Dunnigan was placed on supervision for 12 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
Sentencing on other cases was deferred for three months for Dunnigan to make progress with the order and be of good behaviour.
Hounded from home
A paedophile who travelled 130 miles to meet a “14-year-old girl” in Fife has been hounded out of his home, a court has heard. After making arrangements online, Allan Cruickshank travelled from Peterhead to Kirkcaldy with the intent of spending a night in a guest house, engaging in illegal sex.
Masked attack
Arran Murphy, 22 attacked his sister’s former boyfriend with a metal pole after arriving in a Kirkcaldy street with two masked men armed with a knife and hammer.
The trio chased their victim from Lawson Gardens into St Clair Street after Murphy’s sister phoned to say she was being “hassled” by her ex.
After the attack, Murphy smashed the windows of a Ford Fiesta belonging to someone who had had arrived to collect the ex-boyfriend.
Murphy, of Main Sreet, Blairingone, appeared from custody at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after previously pleading guilty to assault, possessing an offensive weapon and vandalising the car on October 15 2023.
Prosecutor Matthew Knapp told the court the relationship between the assault victim and Murphy’s sister had ended and the man went to her home to collect belongings.
An argument began and he left the house but remained in the street, demanding his property back.
He phoned a friend to take him home but around the same time, the woman called her brother to advise she was being “hassled”.
The man’s friend turned up shortly before a Vauxhall arrived at speed and parked in front of it.
Mr Knapp said: “Three males, including the accused, exited the vehicle in possession of weapons.”
The fiscal said: “The accused was in possession of a metal pole and the other two men were in possession of a hammer and a knife. Their faces were masked.
“The accused has cornered (the man) on St Clair Street and repeatedly attempted to strike him on the head and body with a metal pole.
“He struck (the man) a number of times on the body with the pole and (the man) tried to defend himself and punched the accused once to the face.”
A passing motorist stopped to intervene and Murphy ran back towards Lawson Gardens, after his accomplices.
Mr Knapp said one of the other men was “engaged” with the Fiesta driver and Murphy smashed the car windows.
The victim was left with a swollen hand and elbow.
Sheriff Steven Borthwick adjourned sentencing on Murphy until July 2 to obtain background reports and defence lawyer Shona Westwood said she would reserve mitigation until the next hearing.
Back behind bars
A dangerous serial domestic abuser from Dundee is facing an extended sentence after subjecting his former partner to years of torment. Steven Carr, 45, attacked the woman with a can of deodorant, grabbed and ripped her underwear and used a naked photo of her as his profile image on WhatsApp.
Drink-drive danger
A mother-of-two caught driving while more than five times the legal limit has been banned from the road.
Police received an anonymous tip-off about Marissa Hodge, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
The caller was concerned she had got behind the wheel after drinking and later, officers spotted her Volvo V40 in the city’s North Port.
When they signalled for her to stop, they noticed a strong smell of alcohol.
Hodge, of Woodside, pled guilty to driving with excess alcohol (117mics/ 22).
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said her client had been drinking on the 10th anniversary of a loved one’s death.
“She had phoned a friend for support, then she drove to the friend’s house. It was a very naive move.”
The court had previously deferred sentence for an alcohol assessment after Hodge told social workers she did not have a drink problem but drank three bottles of wine a week.
Ms Clark said: “There has been a massive reduction in her alcohol consumption.”
Sheriff William Gilchrist told Hodge: “You appear as a first offender but this is a very high reading.
“You were a danger to yourself and to others.”
Hodge was disqualified from driving for 16 months and fined £500.
She was placed on supervision for a year and must engage with an alcohol treatment programme.
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