Woman jailed for drunken assault on pensioner

COURT: Attacker left 78-year-old victim with severe injuries after a night of bingo

A Fife woman who attacked a vulnerable pensioner, kicked her head “like a football” and left her with a broken hip, has been jailed for three years.

Shirley Coulter was convicted of viciously assaulting the 78-year-old during a night of drunken violence.

Victim Janice Nolan told The Courier she had not fully recovered from the ordeal in Glenrothes more than a year ago and said: “I just want to put the whole thing behind me.”

Coulter, 41, who was found guilty by a jury at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, showed no remorse as she was sentenced and stuck to her claim she was acting in self-defence.

Ms Nolan suffered multiple injuries and feared she would die when she was attacked by the drunk stranger after a night at the bingo.

The pensioner, who lives in Glenrothes, was forced into giving Coulter a lift in her car and was punched in the face as she drove.

When they stopped, she was knocked to the ground and her head kicked “like a football”.

Photographs shown during Coulter’s trial showed the elderly woman’s swollen and bruised face.

Ms Nolan was found lying in the street in agony and covered in blood but because Coulter had phoned police and alleged she was drink-driving, officers repeatedly tried to take a breath sample from her.

The horrific incident began when Ms Nolan went to the home of a friend, Kathleen Shevlin, 62, after playing bingo.

Coulter arrived and forced her way in, accusing Ms Shevlin of stealing rings from her mother, a former friend.

She stayed in the house for more than two hours, drinking, before punching Ms Shevlin in the face.

After a three-day trial, Coulter, of Barrie Path, Glenrothes, was found guilty of assaulting both women – Ms Nolan to her severe injury – on August 1, last year.

The assault on Ms Nolan happened in her car when Coulter punched her, refused to leave the vehicle, struggled with her then punched her repeatedly on the head and body causing her to fall to the ground. As she lay on the ground Coulter continued kicking her repeatedly on the head and body.

She was also convicted of entering the property in Napier Road uninvited and shouting, swearing and making offensive remarks, and of stealing an electronic cigarette in Scott Road.

Sheriff Charles MacNair said the assaults were “wholly unprovoked and unjustified and told Coulter: “What you did was inexcusable.”