A Craigavon woman who assaulted her mum and her sister, in two separate incidents, has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
The 22-year-old’s solicitor told court: “There was some acrimony in the family at the time and Ms McCullough dealt with it in the wrong way.”
Shaneen McCullough, of Clonmeen, appeared for sentencing on two counts of common assault at Craigavon Magistrates’ on Friday, via videolink from Hydebank.
Prosecution outlined that on December 16, at 4.30pm, the injured party reported that she had been in a vehicle with her sister, the defendant, and her mother on the Lough Road, Lurgan.
She stated that, following a verbal altercation, McCullough had reached back and pulled her by her hair.
The injured party described to police how her sister had also scratched her to the neck and punched her to the face.
When interviewed, McCullough made partial admissions to the hair pulling but claimed that her sister had assaulted her first.
Then on March 29, of this year, police received a report of an assault outside a property in Clonmeen, Craigavon.
On this occasion the injured party had been the defendant’s mother. McCullough had chased her and pushed her up against a wall, causing pain to the victim’s fingers.
She then proceeded to pour Lucozade on her, before running off.
McCullough was later located and arrested near the Brownlow Health Centre.
During interview, she denied pushing her mother but admitted to pouring the Lucozade over her.
Defence solicitor Siun Downey stated: “She has been in custody since March 30. She has pleaded guilty and both her mother and sister are very supportive of her coming home.
“She appears with a virtually clear record, other than one entry from back in 2017 for disorderly behaviour.”
The solicitor added: “There was some acrimony in the family at the time and Ms McCullough dealt with it in the wrong way.”
District Judge Bernie Kelly stated: “Ms McCullough has, by now, served the equivalent of a maximum sentence for these matters, but these are both very serious offences.
“I am certifying them both as so serious that there is only one penalty I can impose.”
McCullough was sentenced to one month in prison suspended for a period of 12 months.
