Two best friends have avoided a prison sentence after they got drunk at a cocktail-making class before getting involved in a brawl outside an Aberdeen pub.
Abbie Donald, 24, and Kelsey Wyllie, 22, – who described each other as “besties” – appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where they admitted assaulting a 47-year-old woman in the car park of Murdos Bar in the Cornhill area of the city.
The assault – which took place at around 1am – saw Donald become involved in the disturbance, with Wyllie jumping in to help her friend.
The woman they attacked suffered a broken finger as a result of the incident.
Fiscal depute Alan Townsend told the court that a fight had broken out between a group of people in the car park outside the pub on September 5 2021.
He said a number of people were involved in the disturbance, with Donald spotting a woman who she knew previously.
Attack outside Murdos Bar in Aberdeen
Somehow the pair ended up in an altercation, with Donald seen repeatedly punching and kicking her victim.
As the woman seemed to get the better of Donald, Wyllie got involved and the pair overpowered the woman, raining down blows upon her.
In the dock, Donald and Wyllie pleaded guilty to one charge of assault to severe injury.
Defence solicitor Mike Monro told the court that his client did not dispute that she was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the assault.
“She had been in town at a cocktail-making event and then they ended up in their local,” he said.
“It is correct to state that there was an incident outside and my client accepts that she then went over to see what was going on and saw people fighting.
“She and the complainer are involved in exchanging punches and the second named accused tried to intervene.”
‘Regret and remorse’
Wyllie’s solicitor, Paul Barnett, told the court that his client had no previous convictions for violence on her record and had been in no trouble since this incident.
“They had been out celebrating their friend’s birthday, alcohol had been taken and Ms Wyllie readily accepts her recollection of events is less than perfect,” Mr Barnett said.
“There was an altercation, she saw her friend on the ground and being assaulted.
“She was then grabbed by the throat and she retaliated by kicking and punching the complainer in her defence.
“Ms Wyllie knows these actions were unacceptable and she massively regrets her involvement – she is not someone who is ever looking for trouble at all.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told the pair that she had taken into account that they had shown “considerable regret and remorse” for “getting caught up in this when you were significantly under the influence”.
“This incident had the potential to cause great injury to the complainer,” she added.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Johnston made Donald, of Aberdeen, and Wyllie, of Clifton Road, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order and ordered each of them to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
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