A mother who kicked her heavily pregnant daughter in the stomach three times has been told she must continue to behave.
Elizabeth Catto, 60, targeted her grown-up daughter as she slept on a sofa at her home on February 5 2021.
She shook the pregnant 23-year-old by the shoulders and the pair shouted at each other. When her daughter pushed her away, Catto aimed a trio of kicks at her abdomen.
Catto, of Tomich Road, Invergordon, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted the assault.
On that occasion, sentence was deferred and Catto was ordered to cooperate fully with social workers for five months.
‘Alcohol played a part’
Defence solicitor Bill Adam told the earlier hearing that Catto had stopped drinking in the wake of the incident.
He said: “It was a minor assault and alcohol played a part but alcohol is no longer in her life.”
Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald disagreed it was a minor assault.
She said: “You kicked your pregnant daughter to her abdomen which could have done serious harm to your daughter or her unborn child.”
Acting for Catto in her latest court appearance, solicitor advocate Clare Russell told the court: “She has fully complied and she is undertaking a more pro-social lifestyle. She has volunteered for a local charity shop.”
Deferring sentence further for good behaviour, Sheriff Macdonald told Catto: “I am not prepared to admonish you on this occasion.
“This was a serious charge. But I am going to require you to be of good behaviour for six months to make sure you continue on this path.
“You must carry on the good work you have done lately.
“If you have been of good behaviour then I will treat you leniently.”
The case will call again in October.