Woman repeatedly punched in supermarket attack after long-running neighbourly dispute, court is told

A long-running dispute between two Knottingley women came to a head when one attacked the other in a supermarket, a court was told.
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Sophie Yorke, 43, lunged at Melanie Sutcliffe as they both shopped in Morrisons in the town, punching her several times before security staff were able to separate them.

Prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court, Joseph Bell said that Yorke had bought a home from the complainant in 2017 who herself moved into an adjacent property.

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However, an unspecified dispute between the two festered and resulted in Yorke being convicted of battery and harassment of Ms Sutcliffe in 2019.

The attack took place in Morrisons in Knottingley.The attack took place in Morrisons in Knottingley.
The attack took place in Morrisons in Knottingley.

Yorke received a community order and a 12-month restraining order.

But in a chance meeting, the pair came face-to-face in Morrisons on the morning of Saturday, August 8 last year.

Mr Bell said Yorke began shouting at Ms Sutcliffe suggesting she had reported Yorke's son to the police, which she denied.

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Yorke is then reported to have grabbed and pulled the victim's face mask off, grabbed her arm and dug her nails in before punching her in the face.

As the victim fought back by pulling Yorke's hair and shouting for someone to call the police, Yorke is then said to have punched her another six times, although the number of blows was disputed.

When they were finally pulled apart, York shouted at her "You've had it coming, three years I've had this."

The victim suffered swelling and bruising to her face.

After being arrested, Yorke gave no-comment answers during a police interview.

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Yorke, of Vale Terrace, Knottingley, pleaded guilty to a charge of actual bodily harm.

The court was told that she had three previous convictions, including the battery charge from 2019.

Mitigating, Jessica Heggie said Yorke was sorry for the attack, but maintains the victim took hold of her clothing during the initial verbal altercation, and that she only punched her three times.

Miss Heggie added: "She does not seek to say these were in reasonable self defence.

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"She accepts she should not have acted in the way she did and accepts the injuries caused are awful.

"There's clear ongoing difficulties since the purchase of the property.

"It's clear there needs to be time and space between theses two parties."

Judge Rodney Jameson QC said because of the previous conviction relating to the same victim, a custodial sentence was inevitable, giving her a four-month jail term, but suspended it for 18 months.

He added: "You are not a person who lives an unlawful life in general terms, you have just had a major falling out with this lady."