Woman is fined over bar brawl
Admits attacking two customers
A bar brawl erupted after a Cowie woman witnessed another female trying to dance with her husband, Stirling Sheriff Court heard this week.
First time offender Sharon Milne, 48, attacked one woman by pulling her hair before turning her attention towards another and grabbing her hair, pulling her to the ground and repeatedly punching her on the head and body.
Donna Kettrick – the second woman targeted by Milne – has herself denied assaulting a man during the disturbance at Cowie Tavern on March 19. She is due back in court early next year to face trial.
However, after accepting her guilt, Milne, of Hilton, was ordered to pay a fine of £230 during an appearance at Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday morning.
The court heard how Kettrick had been in the pub with another woman from 3pm on the day in question. At around 10.15pm – after seven hours of drinking – one of the women began playing music on a jukebox, and started dancing with Milne’s husband as he was walking past.
Milne then became confrontational and assaulted one of the women – grabbing her hair and pulling her over a table of drinks.
And around 15 minutes later she grabbed Kettrick by the hair, pulled her to the ground and punched her several times to the head after following her outside the pub.
As Milne returned indoors, a man who had watched the action unfold from his car told Kettrick and her friend to jump in while he phoned the police.
Police attended the pub and Milne was taken away to Stirling Police Office.
Defence solicitor Ken Dalling said in mitigation: “She has no previous convictions, is in full time employment and comes from a supportive family.
“She is embarrassed about this incident. She lost patience with these younger, intoxicated ladies who were making a nuisance of themselves. Their general behaviour was consistent with that of someone who had been drinking for seven hours.
“She accepts that while this behaviour was out of character, this was her behaviour.
“She is anxious to draw a line under this – this offence dates back more than six months and there has been no further offending. This behaviour will not be repeated.”
Before imposing the fine, Sheriff Gilchrist told Milne: “This is your first offence and here you are, at your age, charged with engaging in a brawl in a pub.
“I accept that the narration we heard is a rather one sided description and that the complainer had been in the pub for seven hours and was under the influence of alcohol. I am going to deal with this as a disorderly event.”
Last month Kettrick, of Easterton Drive, Cowie, issued a not guilty plea to a charge of assaulting a man by kicking him on the head and repeatedly striking him on the head to his injury.
An intermediate diet was set for January 17 with a trial scheduled for February 2. A laundry assistant at Fairview Care Home in Bannockburn has been recognised as one of the leading care home employees in Scotland.
Ella Douglas has been nominated in the Ancillary and Support Staff category at the Scottish Care Awards 2016 which celebrate the best of the independent care home sector nationally.
The category celebrates excellent service to residents and making a significant contribution to the overall care provision.
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow hosted by Michelle McManus, with nearly 700 people attending.
Ella was delighted to have been recognised, saying: “I am very surprised but thrilled and honoured to be chosen as a finalist in these prestigious awards.”
Clare Selbie, the home manager who nominated Ella, said: “Ella takes great interest in the wellbeing of the residents. She has built up relationships with all of our residents and you can see how she has improved the wellbeing and mood of all our residents. Ella is a real asset to Fairview Care Home.”
The awards have been hailed a huge success in recognising individuals, teams and companies, with more entries than ever flooding in each year from employers and employees nominating their peers and colleagues.
The Scottish Care National Care Home Conference & Exhibition, which is now in its 17th year and is sponsored by the Clydesdale Bank, has incorporated an awards ceremony for the last 12 years.
The conference focus this year is on care homes at the heart of communities, as well as of supporting people to remain in a homely setting rather than in hospital. The conference, exhibition and care awards are the largest of their kind for the care home sector in Scotland.