Pregnant mum kneed in stomach and pulled to floor by hair in parking row
An 18-week pregnant mum was struck on the head, pulled to the floor by her hair and kneed in the stomach, so her attacker could get a parking space.
Jessica Stevens suffered bruising to her arms and legs and faced an anxious two-week wait before being assured her baby was unharmed following the horrendous incident in Liverpool.
Her children had looked on in horror as Cheryl Hayes, 49, shouted ‘I am going to t*** you in a minute’ and called their mother a ‘c**t’, Sefton Magistrates Court heard.
Hayes has been ordered to complete a 12-month community order and pay £500 compensation after admitting assault.
The court was told she had felt ‘threatened’ by the victim tapping on her window, and her ‘human nature had regrettably kicked in’.
Miss Stevens had taken her three children for a day out at the World Museum on February 19.
When they arrived, the parking spaces on William Brown Street were all full, so she parked her Range Rover in the coach spaces opposite the museum entrance to wait for a space to become available.
But trouble started brewing when Hayes pulled up behind in a blue Skoda around midday.
Andrew Page, prosecuting, said: ‘The complainant got out of her car to purchase a parking ticket but as she walked back to her car, another vehicle left making a parking space available.
‘The defendant was in her car and she drove in attempt to put her car in the parking space.
‘The complainant believed the defendant’s driving to be aggressive, so she knocked on the bonnet and the windscreen. But there was a verbal argument between Miss Stevens and the defendant.
‘Miss Stevens then went to put the ticket in her car after which, Hayes then got out of her car and approached her. She banged on her vehicle aggressively, asking “How do you like it?”.
‘The complainant asked the defendant to “Stop it” as there were children in her car and she tried to push her away. But the defendant struck her in the head and face and then grabbed her hair and pulled her to her knees. She then kneed her in the stomach.’
Miss Stevens’ son, 21, pulled Hayes away and picked up his mother’s purse, which had fallen to the ground, before mum-of-two Hayes fled the scene.
The victim, who was admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital afterwards, said she was scared to go out in public and had trouble sleeping afterwards.
‘What happened really shook me up. I was physically sore and aching afterwards. Her behaviour was disgusting and completely uncalled for’, she said.
‘At the time it made me feel sick to the stomach. I had to wait two weeks for the result of a scan to see if my baby was OK. It felt like a lifetime. I had sleepless nights.
‘It upsets me deeply that I may not have had my baby due to this behaviour and it deeply upsets me that my children had to witness me being attacked in what should be a family friendly place. It is just beyond words.’
Saying her children were ‘upset and hysterical’ during the fight, she added that she ‘hopes this woman is appalled and ashamed of her behaviour’.
In a police interview after she was detained, Hayes said she had been waiting for a parking space and had gone into an available one, but ‘felt threatened’ by Miss Stevens.
Her son is autistic and the ‘situation caused him massive distress’, the court was told.
Defence lawyer Keith Webster said his client didn’t know the victim was pregnant, and claimed Miss Stevens had tried to strike the defendant before she grabbed her hair.
In mitigation, he added ‘there were not several kneeing motions as originally claimed’, while the defence also denied claims Hayes called Ms Stevens a c*** and said ‘I am going to t*** you in a minute’.
Mr Webster said: ‘The complainant started it by banging on the defendant’s windscreen. She got out of her vehicle and came over to the defendant’s vehicle and was banging on the windscreen. Regrettably the defendant’s human nature kicked in.’
He added: ‘My client is not just a lady of good character, she is of positive character, in terms of the care and support she provides to her family.
‘The complainant began the action and continued with the actions but it ended with the defendant’s actions. If the defendant had stayed in her car, this would not have happened.’
Hayes was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity. She will have to pay £215 in costs and victim surcharge.
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