Two women who blamed a day of heavy boozing for battering a pair of sisters over a petty family feud have been spared jail.
Ceri Chase, 29 and Chelsea Smith, 28, both mothers, were out with a third woman when they crossed paths with Anita Jones and Stacey Palin as they headed to a pub in Chester, Cheshire, on the evening of September 13.
Ms Jones was accompanied by her boyfriend, who had previously been in a relationship with a relative of Chase, which jurors were told led to ‘issues with the families’.
A court heard the defendants began yelling abuse at Ms Jones, calling her ‘a rat and a tramp’.
Ms Jones and her sister then crossed the road and told Chase to leave them alone.
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The court heard Chase then followed them over the road and punched Ms Jones in the face before dragging her to the floor.
CCTV showed Smith on top of Ms Palin on the floor and hitting her, getting up at one point only to return as she tries to get up and flooring her again with a strike to the back.
Chase then pulls Ms Palin away and hits her in the back as well, before walking off.
Ms Palin told the court: ‘I just remember trying to defend myself then I remember being on the floor and someone kicking me.
‘I could feel a kick around the face and the ankles.
‘A female pulled my hair. I could feel it being pulled. I was numb and scared. The next thing I remember was sitting up and being spoken to by the police.’
The court heard the third woman, who took part in the attack, fled and could not be traced.
Smith, a cleaner who has a nine-year-old son, said she was ’10 out of 10 drunk’ after going to a bottomless brunch where she was encouraged to ‘drink a lot in a short period of time’.
Chase, a healthcare assistant with a three-year-old daughter, said she got drunk because the outing was near her birthday.
Chase, of Chester, admitted two charges of assault, while Smith, of nearby Lache, admitted one charge of assault, though both denied kicking either victim
Both were sentenced to12-month community orders and issued two-year restraining orders to stay away from Ms Palin.
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