House guest hit by a flurry of punches

Broken sleep led to woman’s attack

An irate mum unleashed a flurry of punches on a sofasurfer who she felt had overstayed her welcome – after being woken up by her in the dead of night.

Paula Fallens assaulted Lisa Thomson, a friend who had been living with her for around three months, by repeatedly punching her on the head to her injury.

The incident happened at her home on Morris Terrace, at the Top of the Town, in the early hours of September 22.

Appearing in court this week the 43-year-old was ordered to pay a financial penalty as punishment.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday morning how Fallens, her daughter and the complainer were all living at the house at the time of the incident.

Fiscal depute Lindsey Brooks said: “The accused had wanted the complainer [Ms Thomson] to find her own accommodation and there had been some disagreements about this.”

On the evening of the incident the complainer had been up late drinking alcohol with Fallens’ daughter.

The accused had gone to bed at around 8.30pm as she had to get up for work early the following morning.

Throughout the night she had to repeatedly tell the duo to keep the noise down so she could sleep, before things came to a head in the early hours of the morning.

Ms Brooks added that at around 2am an argument broke out about some tobacco that had been taken.

There was an altercation between Fallens and her daughter, and when the complainer stepped in she was pushed to the ground before being punched around 10 to 12 times in the face by the accused.

Police were alerted by an anonymous call and officers arrived around 10 minutes later.

Ms Brooks said: “The accused told police ‘I asked her to leave and she refused, I went for her and we ended up fighting’. The complainer had scratches to her face and bruising to her eye.”

When discussing sentencing options it was revealed that Fallens, who works full-time on a zero-hours contract as a chambermaid, slipped earlier this week on black ice and suffered a broken wrist.

She is awaiting surgery, can’t work and, as a result, is concerned about her income.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson imposed a £500 fine but allowed the first payment to be delayed for a period of three months to allow Fallens to recover.