Assaulted two females and a man, court told

Cathy Ruddell, Parkmore, Craigavon, was also ordered to pay the two female victims £100 each in compensation.

At a previous court she had pleaded guilty to the three assaults and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report.

The court heard that on April 22 this year at around 1.35pm police received a report of an assault at an address in Craigavon.

They spoke to a female who said she had been sitting in her mother’s house when Ruddell started punching her.

Her partner had to pull the defendant off her and an ambulance was called.

Twenty minutes later Ruddell arrived back with her brother who had a hockey stick. He started shouting words of a sectarian nature.

Another injured party claimed that the defendant punched her in the right eye. Skin was broken around the eye.

The third injured party was outside and Ruddell came out and pushed him in the back and he fell to the ground.

Mr Brendan Hagan, representing the defendant, said the genesis of what happened was remarks made by one of the injured parties in relation to Ruddell’s daughter but it had to be accepted she could have acted with more restraint.

He added that she had consumed alcohol and this was an ingredient towards her conduct. She claimed she was the subject of a lot of verbal abuse.

Mr Hagan said she would say that it was not the case she went to the house with her brother. She was on the point of leaving when he arrived. The alleged sectarian remarks did not emanate from the defendant. It was a falling out between neighbours.