Edinburgh crime: Men hit mum with baseball bat and threatened teenager with knife, court hears

Two thugs burst into a woman’s home and smashed her in the face with a metal baseball bat before holding a knife to a teenage girl’s throat, a court has been told.

Christopher McDonald, 31, and Craig Shaw, 54, turned up at Wendy Mein’s home looking for her partner while carrying the weapons following a disagreement.

Ms Mein was struck to the face with the green metal bat while Shaw assaulted a teenage girl by pinning her against a wall and holding the blade to her throat at the property in Haddington, East Lothian.

Both men appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, October 17 to admit the terrifying attack which took place in October 2019. Prosecutor Connor Muir told the court McDonald and Shaw arrived at Ms Mein’s home along with other people who were not being prosecuted for the offence. Mr Muir said the woman heard a knock at the door and spotted Shaw standing outside on her path at around 5.30pm on October 28, 2019.

A mother and daughter were attacked in their own home in October 2019

She opened the door to find McDonald, of Dunbar, East Lothian, and Shaw outside and the pair proceeded to “push their way in and seize hold” of the woman. The court heard Shaw were shouting “Where is Mark?” and a third male was said to have also entered the home uninvited at this time. The fiscal said McDonald pulled the metal baseball bat from his jacket and was “also shouting for Mark Ingle”.

The court was told there were differing testimonies as to who actually struck Ms Mein with the makeshift weapon but that she was struck to the left side of her face and suffered bruising to her face and nose. The fiscal said a 16-year-old girl heard the attack on Ms Mein and after coming downstairs she was grabbed by Shaw who proceeded to pull out a knife and hold it to the teen’s throat.

Shaw, of Musselburgh, East Lothian, shouted at the girl to ”shut the f**k up” while pinning her against a wall within the home. Mr Muir said the Crown had “no real information” as to why the attack took place other than there had been a disagreement between parties. Both men then left the property and were arrested and charged soon after.

McDonald and Shaw both pleaded guilty to amended charges when they appeared in the dock at Capital’s sheriff court on Monday. Solicitors Chris McFarlane, for McDonald, and Joe Boyd, representing Shaw, said they would reserve all mitigation to the sentencing hearing. Mr Boyd added his client had been on bail for three years and had adhered to all the conditions since then stating there had been “no other or additional issues between the parties within that time”.

Sheriff Donald Corke said he was content to continue both accused’s bail in the meantime and that he would defer sentence to next month for social work reports to be prepared.

McDonald and Shaw admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by forcing their way into a home uninvited, brandish a baseball bat towards Wendy Mein and a child, shout, swear and act aggressively towards them at Craig Avenue, Haddington, on October 28, 2019.

They also both admitted to assaulting Ms Mein by seizing her by the body and striking her on the head with a baseball bat. Shaw pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a 16-year-old girl by restraining her against a wall and brandishing a knife towards her and holding it against her throat, and to possessing a knife, all during the same incident.