'Alley cat-scrapping' women left man with a bleeding brain after bat attack on Castleford street

Sharon Ainley hit the man with “all the force she could muster” and was seen to be “enjoying herself” as Kelly Turner and Lynsey Smith waded in to hold him down and punch him, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Joseph Hudson said the man had been at his Royds Avenue home in Castleford fixing his garden fence on the evening of July 17, 2021, when a drunken man approached the victim, became abusive and started a fight with him.

Several skirmishes then broke out on the street involving the victim, his partner and otherss, although Turner was initially seen trying to break the fights up.

But 44-year-old Ainley was then caught on CCTV walking down the street wielding a bat.

Turner and Smith were seen attacking the man who did not react and lash out. Turner held his legs down as Smith punched him around the head. Ainley was then seen entering the victim’s house where she swung the bat at the man’s partner, catching her in the face and fracturing her orbital bone around her eye.

She then walked back outside and struck the man around the head. He suffered multiple lacerations to his scalp, a broken nose and a subdural hematoma – a bleed to the brain.

Ainley, of Lower Oxford Street, Castleford, later admitted two counts of Section 20 GBH and one of violent disorder.

Turner, age 39, of Royds Avenue, Castleford, admitted affray. Smith, age 39, of Grafton Street, Castleford admitted violent disorder.

Little mitigation was offered for Turner and Smith after Judge Robin Mairs said he would not send them to jail. He said he would draw back from tougher sentences because Turner has just one conviction, while Smith has none. He gave Smith an 18-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work. Turner was handed a £1,000 fine.

Ainley, however, has 20 convictions for 36 offences. Representing Ainley, Jo Shepherd said she had struggled with drug addiction throughout her life.

She is the partner of Smith, while Turner is her younger sister. Miss Shepherd also said that Ainley had also struggled since the death of her cousin.

She added: “She is ashamed of her behaviour. She saw other family members in the incident and reacted to it. It does not excuse it but it might explain it.”

Judge Mairs told them: “Why you saw fit to scrap like alley cats in the street is beyond me. You lost control and for whatever reason you decided to attack that man.”

Having told the court he watched the CCTV footage twice, he jailed Ainley for 30 months and said: “It was obvious the way you were brandishing it you were looking forward to using it, and use it you did.

“You hit him with all the force you could muster. You looked to be enjoying yourself from the footage.”

All three were also given restraining orders to keep them away from the victims.