A woman who assaulted a pensioner, leaving her unconscious and too scared to leave her home for a year, has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
An earlier trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Aimee Lee ran at Mary Anderson “like a raging bull” before pushing her to the ground in Cowdenbeath’s Johnston Park in July 2021.
Jurors heard the victim, then aged 74, was left with fractures to her cheek bone and wrist and needed stitches in her eyebrow, which she said is still lumpy.
Lee, 37, believed the pensioner had slapped a primary school child and claimed she had pushed the woman in retaliation but denied running at her with force.
A jury convicted her by majority of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment.
First offender Lee was found guilty of a second charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing.
She appeared in the dock for sentencing last week.
‘Devastating’ consequences
Sheriff Charles Macnair told her: “You were convicted by the jury of an unprovoked assault on a woman in her 70s.
“It was, I accept, one push but the consequences have been devastating.
“She was rendered unconscious and had fractures.
“From the victim impact statement it’s clearly had a long-term impact on her”.
Sheriff Macnair said sentencing was not easy, given Lee is a mother to four children and has been the victim of offending herself.
The sheriff continued: “I am, just, prepared to deal with this by way of a non-custodial sentence but it will be a high end community sentence”.
Sheriff Macnair sentenced Lee to 250 hours of unpaid work and ordered her to pay £750 compensation to her victim.
She was also made subject to a six-month curfew order and has been placed on offender supervision for two years.
‘Remorseful’ for injuries
Defence lawyer Pete Robertson said his client is “completely remorseful” for the injuries sustained by the woman.
He said: “It’s fair to say it was never the intention of hers to hurt someone to such a degree”.
Antisocial behaviour
Asked by prosecutor Laurelle Johnston during the trial in February about the psychological impact of the incident, Mrs Anderson said she “never left the house for a year” as she was “too scared to go outside”.
Mrs Anderson said she had been at a neighbour’s house that day and had come out to a “horseshoe” of youths.
She said she and other neighbours had been experiencing antisocial behaviour for about five weeks before this.
Mrs Anderson said a child ran up to her as her friend’s husband George Smith, escorted her down a path to her gate.
It was suggested by Mr Robertson the girl had been antagonised by either her or one of her neighbours but Mrs Anderson denied this.
Mr Robertson suggested the child had been petting her dog when Mrs Anderson slapped her in the face, something again denied.
She said the girl approached her as she held out her arm to keep a safe distance to reduce Covid risk and “pushed her face into my hand”, adding: “I certainly never hit that girl at all.”
Head ‘bouncing off pavement’
The woman said she next remembers Lee coming at her, screaming and shouting, before she was knocked out.
Mr Smith said he recalled Lee “coming down like a raging bull” and shouting to him that his wife had “slapped” the child.
He said the girl then pointed to Mrs Anderson and Lee “ran to her and knocked her against the fence”.
Mr Smith said she was knocked unconscious and “split her head” as it was “bouncing off the pavement”.
He said this all happened while he was on the phone to police.
It was suggested to Mrs Anderson and Mr Smith by the defence agent she had pushed Lee first but they both denied this.
Mr Smith said: “The old lady did not even know it was coming”.
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