A WOMAN who struck a mother to the head as she held her young son was slammed by a judge for a “disgraceful piece of conduct”.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Michelle Toni Ainsworth lashed out at the female as tempers flared at Windermere railway station on January 12, 2020.
Ainsworth, 37, was with two men, including the boy’s father, at an arranged meeting with the youngster’s mum at around 1-30pm.
A row ensued when the father was told he wouldn’t be getting his son amid concerns he’d been drinking. Ainsworth was said to have become involved in a verbal exchange with the woman.
Prosecutor Brendan Burke said: “The defendant reacted by striking her to the side of the head.” He added: “It appears to have been an instantaneous reaction to comments the victim has made.”
No injury was caused.
Ainsworth, of Hall Park, Burneside, denied common assault but was convicted after a trial at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court in Barrow.
As a result, she flouted a 12-month suspended jail term given by a crown court judge in late January, 2019, for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
The court heard Ainsworth was also the mother of a young child and had no previous convictions for violence.
“The incident was clearly an emotive one,” said her lawyer, Chris Evans, who noted the offence occurred “towards the dying days” of the suspended sentence period.
Passing sentence, Judge Nicholas Barker told Ainsworth: “Your behaviour on this occasion was disgraceful.
“Whatever the reasons behind it, it was obvious to you there was a small child in the midst of all of this.
“All of the adults present, you particularly and (the boy’s father) as well, seem to me to have taken no regard for your adult responsibility for this child in any way, shape or form.
“You struck the mother while she was holding on to this young boy, who was described as being borderline hysterical.
“It is a disgraceful piece of conduct.”
Ainsworth received a six-month community order and must complete a two-month night-time curfew.
Judge Barker also fined her £250 for breaching the suspended sentence, concluding that activating the jail term would be “disproportionate”.
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