A 19-year-old woman pulled hair from her victim’s head during a “savage” attack outside a Dunfermline nightclub, a court has heard.
Rhya Laidlaw previously admitted assaulting the woman to her injury outside Lourenzo’s in the city’s St Margaret Street on April 24 last year.
It is the second time she has been convicted of assault, having attacked another female at a secondary school in 2020.
Laidlaw appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to be sentenced for her latest offence.
Hair pulled out
Fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson told the court a woman had been walking along the street after a night out and there was some shouting.
She said Laidlaw stood up and approached the complainer, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the middle of the street close to the library, across the road from the nightclub.
Ms Stevenson said: “The complainer received superficial cuts to her hands and face and bruising to her right eye as a result of a fall.
“A patch of her hair (was) pulled out.
“She did not seek medical treatment after the incident and went home.”
Temper
Defence lawyer Joe Mooney referred to a social work report highlighting the assault resulted from Laidlaw taking too much alcohol and other substances and she needs to learn to control her temper.
The solicitor said the report made clear she was “mortified” by what she described as her “savage” behaviour towards the other female.
He added: “She has to recognise violence is not the way to resolve matters.
“Fortunately, injuries were not as bad as they could have been.
“It’s not just the physical impact but the mental impact for people who are victims of incidents like this.”
Previous work order not complete
Sheriff Craig McSherry sentenced Laidlaw, of Dunfermline, to a four-month curfew and placed her on offender supervision for 12 months.
Laidlaw was previously sentenced to 70 unpaid work hours for assaulting a female at a high school in Dunfermline by grabbing her hair, pulling her to the ground and repeatedly striking her to the head in August 2020.
Sheriff McSherry sentenced Laidlaw to a further 50 hours of unpaid work for not finishing those unpaid work hours.
The sheriff warned if she continued to fail to comply with the court, a custodial sentence may be the only alternative.
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