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AN Omagh woman has avoided an immediate prison sentence after assaulting a woman who made comments about her autistic son.
At Enniskillen Magistrates Court today, the defendant – who lives in the Omagh district but cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her children – was convicted of common assault and criminal damage.
She had initially been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but the charge was reduced.
The court heard that on May 5 the defendant became aware of online comments made by the complainant about her son.
After attempting to contact the woman via social media and discovering she had been blocked, the defendant arranged a lift to the complainant’s home in Fermanagh and confronted her there.
It was claimed the complainant struck her first, after which the defendant entered the house through a window. In doing so, she damaged ornaments belonging to the homeowner.
A struggle followed during which the defendant punched the complainant to the head and pulled out clumps of her hair before leaving the scene.
The defendant later attended Omagh Police Station, where she was interviewed and made admissions, stating, ‘One thousand per cent I did hit her … I beat the f*** out of her’.
At court, she pleaded not guilty.
Defence counsel Ciaran Roddy, instructed by solicitor Patrick Roche, accepted that an assault had occurred but argued it did not meet the threshold for AOABH.
He told the court that prosecution guidelines for the more serious charge generally involve injuries such as broken bones or disfiguring harm. While the assault was accepted, he submitted it fell short of that level.
District Judge Alana McSorley agreed, finding that the incident did not amount to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. She convicted the defendant of common assault and criminal damage.
In mitigation, Mr Roddy said the mother-of-two works 50 hours per week and has no recent relevant convictions.
Waiving her right to a pre-sentence report, the defendant was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was made subject to a two-year restraining order in favour of the complainant.
