‘Mum defender’ put on probation for 12 months

Saturday 17 August 2019

A 26-year-old woman, who drunkenly kicked a man that had been “bickering” with her mum in an attempt to protect her, has been put on probation for a year.

Cayleigh Manson received her sentence in the Magistrate's Court yesterday (Friday 16 August).

During the hearing, the Court heard that, following the incident on Sunday 30 June at Parade Gardens, she referred herself to the Probation Service and started working with them.

Manson said she had arrived at the park around 13:30 with a group of people, including her mother.

Advocate Chris Baglin told Court that, during her Police interview, Manson had admitted drinking five or six cans of lager on the day, although she said she was not as drunk as she normally was. 

Pictured: The incident was captured on CCTV.

She said that the victim had been “bickering” with her mum all day, although she didn’t know what they were arguing about. She recalled trying to separate them.

At one point, Manson’s mum was kicked by the man and fell to the floor. Manson tried to pull the man off her mum by grabbing his left ear. She then threw a can of lager at him, hitting him in the torso.

She attempted to swing an arm at the man but was blocked. A few moments later, she stood back and kicked him in the back, which the Court heard didn't cause any injury. A scuffle followed and the man bumped his head on the floor.

The incident was captured on CCTV and Manson confirmed to police officers that it was her on the footage. She was eventually charged with 'grave and criminal assault', which she admitted in Court yesterday.

Pictured: Manson referred herself to the Probation and After-Care Service following the incident.

Advocate Baglin highlighted that Manson had a previous record, but didn’t go into the details of its contents. 

Advocate Francesca Pinel, defending, urged Court to deal with Manson by way of a probation order. She told Court that Manson had referred herself to the service, which had already appointed a Supervising Probation Officer to work with her and planned what she could do.

Relief Magistrate, David Le Cornu, agreed to the suggestion and imposed a 12-month probation order, acknowledging that Manson had done something “constructive” by accepting her problem and engaging with the service.

“This will be the opportunity to go over it and perhaps you’ll come out all clean,” he said before Manson left the court room.