Young woman attacked other woman with hockey stick

A woman launched a 'terrifying' hockey stick attack on a friend after turning up at her home with her mum, a court heard.
Burnley Magistrates' CourtBurnley Magistrates' Court
Burnley Magistrates' Court

Rose Abbott set about Eloise Cottam with the weapon, battering her repeatedly in the arms and ribs and flooring her as her mother Rhonda Abbott tried to stop the beating.

The pair had turned up at a housing project where Miss Cottam lived in Burnley in Mrs Abbott’s car, after an earlier incident said to have caused bad blood between the defendant and victim.

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The town’s magistrates were told how after striking Miss Cottam with the hockey stick, 20-year-old Abbott grabbed her hair, punched and kicked her, hurled insults and screamed: “I’m gonna kill ya. Everyone hates ya.”

Miss Cottam was left sore, scratched and bruised after the sustained assault last August. Abbott could be facing a jail term.

Mrs Tracy Yates (prosecuting) told the hearing Miss Cottam walked out of Stepping Stones and saw Abbott sitting in the front passenger seat of a car. As the victim walked towards the vehicle, Abbott jumped out of it and ran towards her, with a hockey stick in her hand. Miss Cottam’s phone was also smashed in the violence.

Abbott, of Aickman Place, Burnley, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place - Whittle Court. She will be sentenced at a later date.