Hartlepool mum assaulted NHS worker aunt when family feud boiled over

Abbey Sherry, 31, punched and kicked her relative, an NHS worker, after bumping into her on a night out.

Sherry asked why her aunt had ignored her at the bar with her aunt telling her to “get out of her face”.

Teesside Crown Court heard it was the victim’s first night out since the pandemic began when Sherry confronted her.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said: “It was an evening that until she came across the defendant she described as pleasant, relaxing and she was enjoying herself.”

Miss Atkinson said Sherry pushed her aunt towards some fencing causing her to fall back, and whilst on the floor repeatedly punched and kicked her.

She also bit the victim on the arm. The judge said her injuries were “distressing” but she went on to make a full physical recovery.

Sherry, of Pine Grove, Hartlepool, admitted actual bodily harm assault after the incident on August 7 last year.

The court heard there was animosity between the women over various “life choices” by Sherry, a mum of four.

Her barrister Stephen Constantine said in mitigation she had “completely turned her life around” with the support of her parents.

He said: “The Abbey Sherry we see ten months down the line is wholly different than that which sat in the police station.”

The judge, Recorder Christopher Williams, said he could suspend the sentence for that reason.

Sherry received 15 months’ prison suspended for two years, 35 days’ probation, and 90 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring.

A four-year restraining order was also made.