'Absurd' bid to deny attack on social workers
A Wigan mum who attacked two social workers in front of her petrified children has been convicted of assault.
The 35-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied beating the women, one of whom was pregnant, during a supervised visit at Kildare Family Resource Centre, in Hindley.
She reacted angrily as District Judge Lloyd found her guilty of two counts of common assault at Wigan Magistrates Court.
The court heard how the mother-of-three arrived at the centre for a pre-
arranged contact visit with her children, on October 10.
Within minutes, she became angry and upset after discovering her eldest child, aged 12, would not be attending.
The woman then told her two other children that their father and social services were lying to them.
Despite being warned about her behaviour, the woman continued to act inappropriately, labelling the supervisors "the Gestapo".
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Giving evidence, social worker Marie Carroll described how she approached the woman to inform her the contact visit would have to be stopped, but was grabbed by the hair and pulled to the ground.
Ms Carroll was then punched in the head several times by the defendant before her colleague Leanne Cooper tried to intervene.
Ms Cooper, who was a few weeks into pregnancy at the time of the incident, told the court she tried to stop the attack, but was punched in the face and stomach by the defendant.
The court heard how the children were visibly upset as they witnessed the attack and tried to escape from the contact room.
The assault was finally stopped when two other social workers entered the room and the defendant walked out of the family centre.
She was arrested later that day after police picked her up.
The defendant told the court her hand had become accidentally entangled in Ms Carroll's hair and she had acted in self-defence when she hit Ms Cooper in the face.
But District Judge Lloyd labelled the mother's version of events as "absurd," and found her guilty of two counts of common assault.
Delivering her verdict, District Judge Lloyd said: "Her behaviour was almost immediately inappropriate. She used the contact visit to score points with the social workers.
"The mother lost control of herself and the children must have been very distressed."
Following the verdict, the defendant reacted angrily and began shouting to the courtroom before she was restrained.
She has been granted bail and will appear before Wigan Magistrates Court on March 5 for sentencing.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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