Broken tile used in assault by woman
A WOMAN waited behind a shop door and used a broken tile to assault a man before using the same weapon to assault his mum who came to defend him.
Samantha Fagan, 49, used the unconventional weapon to ambush Lewis Sawdon outside a convenience store in Maesteg on February 14 after she and her then-partner Francis Jackson had words with him inside the shop.
While Fagan and Mr Jackson jumped on top of the victim, Mr Sawdon’s mother Victoria Gibbs got out of a waiting car and tried to pull the couple off her son but she was in turn hit with the tile by Fagan, causing her to bleed profusely.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Monday heard Mr Sawdon was known to both the defendant and Mr Jackson, and there was animosity between the two parties after the victim had previously shouted at Mr Jackson.
Prosecutor James Evans said Mr Sawdon and the couple saw each other inside the store in Caerau Road when the victim said: “Boo” to them.
When they walked past him, Fagan and Mr Jackson said: “Watch this – you’re getting it when you get out of the shop.”
Mr Sawdon then told them to “f*** off”.
Mr Evans added: “The defendant and Mr Jackson came out of the shop and the defendant stationed herself to the side of the doorway.
“She was lurking outside and picked up a broken piece of tile on top of a low wall, which was nine inches square.
“The complainant came out and she had her arms out ready waiting to strike.
“She struck him to the head with that tile . . . There was an incised wound to the side of Mr Sawdon’s face and he did suffer scarring to his face as a result of this attack.
“His mother tried to pull the two people off her son. The defendant picked up the tile again and struck her to the side of the head.”
Both Fagan and Mr Jackson were arrested and the defendant, of Duffryn Road, Caerau, later pleaded guilty to a section 18 assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and possession of an offensive weapon.
Mr Jackson denied the offences and the matter was due to proceed to trial but the prosecution offered no evidence.
In mitigation Peter Donnison said his client’s situation was a sad case and she “did not recognised herself” as the person who committed the assaults.
He also claimed the defendant was “under Mr Jackson’s influence” and she “felt like a prisoner in her own home”.
He said Fagan had been the victim of domestic assault as an adult and as a child and had turned to drugs at an early age.
She has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had previously been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Judge Timothy Petts sentenced the defendant to a total of two years and eight months’ imprisonment.