5 days Ago By [email protected] (Mark Naylor)
A drunken young woman viciously stamped on the head of a teenage girl after a petty argument turned nasty and led to a bad-tempered scuffle and a "horrific" street beating. Leah Steven "went back for a second go" during the "appalling" stamping attack and a horrified woman who watched in shock as the violence quickly escalated feared at first that the victim had been killed, Hull Crown Court heard. Steven, 20, of Wellington Road, Bridlington , admitted assaulting the girl, causing actual bodily harm, on July 4 last year.
Ashley Lambert-Jefferson, prosecuting, said that an argument broke out between Steven and a 16-year-old girl at about 8.20pm. Both of them had been drinking.
There was a scuffle and the girl ended up on the ground in the street. While the girl was on the ground, Steven stamped on her head and walked away, leaving the victim on the ground. Steven returned and stamped on her head for a second time.
A woman who was on the scene saw the victim staggering and was concerned for her welfare. Steven told the girl that she needed to go home. The victim banged on the door of a nearby house.
The witness at first thought that Steven had killed the victim. "She said that she would never forget the noise and sight of the assault," said Mr Lambert-Jefferson. The girl suffered an injury to her eye and it was claimed that she also had a bite mark on her leg, although it was unclear when or how this was caused.
The girl later said: "I have anxiety, so this incident has affected my anxiety and made it far worse." She suffered flashbacks and was very anxious about leaving the house. She was nervous and paranoid about whether something would happen again.
Steven admitted the incident during police interview, including that she stamped on the victim's head. She had previous convictions from November 24 for assault and being drunk and disorderly, committed shortly after the stamping attack assault, about six weeks later in August. "It shows a propensity for violent offences," said Mr Lambert-Jefferson.
Ben Hammersley, mitigating, said that the stamping assault did not cause the most serious of offences but this was by luck. It was an "appalling" incident but the victim was moving almost immediately after the stamps. "This behaviour is inexcusable," said Mr Hammersley.
"She knows that she is lucky that she did not cause greater injury or is facing a more serious charge. She feels terrible and wishes she could apologise. "She made admissions in interview.
It's genuine remorse and regret that she did what she did while she was drunk. There has been no attempt to minimise her actions. "Clearly, she gets into trouble when she is in drink.
She can get a bit nasty when she has been drinking. She has given up alcohol altogether and feels better and clearer for it. This is a young woman who did something horrific and stupid when she was in drink.
" Steven worked full-time in a bar restaurant at a holiday village. Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC told Steven: "You were drunk at the time, as was the complainant. An argument developed over a minor matter.
You stamped on her head twice. "It was quite a serious injury. An aggravating factor is that you went back for a second go.
You have come very close indeed to an immediate custodial sentence." Steven was given a one-year suspended custodial sentence, a three-month tagged alcohol abstinence order and 20 days' rehabilitation..
