Teen girl smashed bottle over woman’s head in Wester Hailes mass brawl

A teenage girl smashed a wine bottle over a woman’s head during a mass brawl outside an Edinburgh shopping centre.
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The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, left victim Kirsteen Murray with head wounds following the brutal attack last September.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how up to 25 youths started fighting at the Westside Plaza Shopping Centre in the Capital’s Wester Hailes area.

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Ms Murray was seen fighting with the teen’s boyfriend leading the girl to run across a road and strike her victim over the head with the bottle.

A view of the Edinburgh Sheriff Court.A view of the Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
A view of the Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Ms Murray, 23, was left “covered in blood” due to the assault and was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where she had stitches inserted to two deep cuts to her head.

The teen was then traced to her home in the Broomhouse area of the city and arrested by police officers.

She appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month to admit the attack and she returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday.

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Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “You are only 17 now and you committed this offence when you were just 16.

“The offence involved striking the complainer on the head with a bottle. There was a background though as Ms Murray was involved in a conflict with your then-boyfriend.

“It seems to me this is an offence the does not require a custodial sentence.”

The girl was placed on a 12-month offenders supervision requirement and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community.

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Last month fiscal depute Lindsay Magro told the court between 20 and 25 youths were gathered on the street outside the shopping centre at around 11.30pm on September 20 last year.

The fiscal said a security guard watching fighting break out within the group on his CCTV system and witnessed Ms Murray “punch a male [who was] the then boyfriend of the accused”.

The fight between the the man and Ms Murray continued before the 17-year-old girl was seen “sprinting across to Murray with a glass bottle in her hand”.

The fiscal added: “She then struck Murray to the head once and she fell to the ground. The accused was pushed away by unknown people before exiting out of shot of the CCTV cameras.”

The court heard a doctor who treated Ms Murray said there was a possibility she will be left permanently scarred but at the moment “it was impossible to say”.

The 17-year-old girl pleaded guilty to assaulting Kirsteen Murray by striking her to the head with a glass bottle to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement at Westside Plaza, Edinburgh, on September 20 last year.

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