Lurgan mother kicked another woman in the head while she was celebrating Armagh GAA team win the All Ireland, Craigavon court hears
A mother-of-four, who kicked a woman in the head while she was on the ground, has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Laura Rock, aged 32, from Shankill Street, Lurgan, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court.
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She pleaded guilty to two charges – assault causing actual bodily harm and disorderly behaviour on dates between July 27 and July 30 last year.
Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor said he had read the facts and asked Rock’s lawyer, Mr Chris Logue, to tell him about his client.
Mr Logue said his client had a “limited” record and had pleaded guilty immediately.
The solicitor said his client is “extremely remorseful”. He quoted from the pre-sentence report which described it as “the worst mistake of her life”.
"This was set against the backdrop of Armagh winning the All Ireland and all sense with her went out the window. There was lots of revelry around the town and unfortunately this lady very rarely drinks and saw this as occasion to do so,” said Mr Logue, describing it as “one kick too many”.
"It was one kick, Your Worship, and there does appear to have been a lot of rowing in and around the area where this happened,” said Mr Logue who said his client is remorseful because of her children who are aged under 12 and as young as 17 months old.
"She is a single parent and is absolutely mortified,” said Mr Logue, pointing out that the pre-sentence report predicted she was of a “low” likelihood of reoffending.
Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor pointed to the statement of the victim who said she was innocently going home. “She could only tell what happened to her because someone filmed it. It shows the girl on the ground being kicked in the head by Laura Rock.
"She suffered injuries to her right eye which was black and closed over, her left eyebrow, a deep laceration to the back of her thigh, cuts to inside her ears, bruising to her elbow and bleeding from inside her right ear and clumps of hair being pulled out – all of which, by virtue of her plea of guilty, your client accepts that she caused.”
The district judge added: “You come to the court having pleaded guilty but also with a criminal record. You have inflicted actual bodily harm on another party when you were a younger woman.
"You are contrite as far as the Probation Service are concerned but you really have nothing else to say for yourself other than you are sorry and you are afraid you will go to prison. You are right about that because the case clearly reaches the custody threshold.
"To inflict these injuries on an innocent person on a public street, the excuse of having drink taken is no excuse. To lift your hand to someone else is one thing to kick them is quite another – neither of which is acceptable but the latter is quite reprehensible,” said the deputy district judge.
For assault causing actual bodily harm Rock was sentenced to three months in prison suspended for two years. For the disorderly behaviour she was fined £200 plus the offender levy of £15.