Two women fined after West Lothian nightclub assault

TWO women who attacked another pair of females outside a West Lothian nightclub were today ordered to pay their victims £1,000 compensation.

Lynn Sharp and Elizabeth Gibb were put under social work supervision. Picture; Vic Roddrick

Lynn Sharp and Elizabeth Gibb were also put under social work supervision for a year to ensure there is no repeat of their violent conduct.

The friends, both aged 33, earlier pled guilty on indictment to two separate assaults outside Envy nightclub in Bathgate town centre on Saturday12 March 2017.

Single mum Sharp admitted punching Abigail Burke on the head to her injury.

Mother-of-two Gibb admitted repeatedly punching and kickingm a woman on the head and body to her injury causing her to fall to the ground.

The accused laughed and joked with each other as they walked from court after escaping a likely prison sentence with Gibb celebrating by raising her arms in a victory gesture.

Kevin Jarvis, prosecuting, told Livingston Sheriff Court that there had been “animosity” between the accused and their victims inside the club which included Sharp asking: “What’s your problem?”

They were warned about their behaviour by staff but met again by chance in the street outside after the club emptied at 3am.

A fight broke out and Gibb struck her victim twice on the head and kicked her once on the body, which caused her to fall to the ground.

At the same time, Mr Jarvis said, Sharp grabbed one of the victims and punched her once on the face.

Sharp was punched in the face knocking her to the ground ad a clump of hair was pulled from her head in the struggle.

Both victims were later treated separately at St John’s Hospital in Livingston. Doctors foundone victim was suffering from double vision and had damage to her eye socket.

The victim also had double vision with bruising to her head and body and a ‘foreign object’ was removed from her ear.

Mr Jarvis said Sharp gave a ‘no comment’ interview to police, but Gibb – when told of the injuries her victim had suffered – broke down and confessed.

He added: “She said she was disgusted by her behaviour and what happened during the incident.”

Andy Aitken, defending, Sharp, said his client had been on her first night out since having a baby and ending a relationship in which she had been the victim of domestic abuse.

He said: “She accepts that, in the heat of the moment and her judgement clearly blinded by her over consumption of alcohol, she reacted by swinging a punch which connected with the complainer.

“She herself sustained injuries when she was knocked to the ground by a blow to the face and had a significant clump of hair pulled from her head. The injuries also resulted in her having surgery to her nose.

“She does have a record of previous convictions which are relevant to disposal today but are of some age. She accepts that by reacting violently she falls to be punished.”

Neil Robertson, defending, Gibb, said his client had sustained two black eyes as a result of being punched in the face during the disturbance.

He stressed that she was ashamed of her behaviour and wished to apologise publicly to her victim.

He said her two teenage daughters had been taunted at school about their mother “going to jail” as a result of press publicity.

He added: “It’s been a dreadful period for her. She’s on the waiting list to see a psychiatrist and she is almost overwhelmed by the position she finds herself in.

“My client is not a drinker. She’d gone out to celebrate that night and regrets her involvement in this. Nothing like this has happened before and it will never happen again.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff Susan Craig told the two accused she would treat them equally because, although Gibb had no previous convictions, she had carried out a worse assault.

She admitted: “It’s difficult to arrive at a figure that will adequately reflect the injuries they sustained and keep it at a level you can afford, so the figure will be GBP1000.

“Each of you requires support to make sure that nothing like this does happen again so I’m going to order that there be a period of 12 months supervision.”

She allowed Sharp, of Cricketfield Place, Armadale, to pay the compensation by weekly instalments of £20 from her benefits.

Gibb, of Whitehill View, Blackburn, was ordered to pay at the rate of £15 per fortnight.

She added: “You can obviously pay more if you’re able to. This is not a fine. It’s direct compensation for the injuries that you have caused.”