A woman has walked free from court after a jury found her not guilty of an assault outside a Perthshire pub.
It followed an incident at the Dreadnought Inn, Blairgowrie, during which former painter and decorator Jeremy Higgins suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost his sense of smell and taste.
Lynsey Smeaton went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court this week, accused of attacking Mr Higgins by pushing him on the body, causing him to fall to the ground and rendering him unconscious, to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life.
On Wednesday, a jury of 10 women and five men found Smeaton not guilty by majority verdict.
Solicitor David Holmes had argued his client, who accepted she had pushed Mr Higgins with both hands on the chest, was acting in self defence.
The trial heard Smeaton was confronted by Mr Higgins outside the bar in the early hours of May 12, 2019.
Smeaton, a customer service advisor for SSE, said Mr Higgins upset her with “hurtful and unfounded” allegations about her relationship with his brother-in-law Eddie Rooney.
He repeatedly asked her what she was doing standing next to Mr Rooney.
Smeaton later told police that he said to her: “I’ll wipe that smile off your face.”
Taking the witness box, Smeaton told the jury: “I pushed him with two hands on his chest. I just turned around and walked down the road. I was upset and I wanted to get home.”
The court heard that Mr Rooney called after her: “You’ve knocked him out.”
Smeaton, of Arthur Wynd, Blairgowrie, said: “I turned around, but then I carried on walking. People were there, he wasn’t left unattended.”
Mr Higgins has a history of threatening behaviour, with several court convictions under his belt, the court was told.
The jury took less than an hour to clear Smeaton of the assault allegation.
Mr Rooney, 56, told the court that he witnessed Smeaton pushing Mr Higgins. “It wasn’t a violent push,” he said. “It was as if to say: Leave me alone, go away.”
Mr Higgins said he had no memory of the night, nor of the following 10 to 12 days.
As well as losing his sense of smell and taste, he lost about 30% hearing in both ears and now has to use a hearing aid, he said.
