A mum has been jailed after injuring another woman in a vicious assault with a hammer inside a pub last year.
Kirsty Allen, 31, carried out the attack as an act of revenge against a woman her boyfriend had allegedly been cheating on her with. Hull Crown Court heard that she struck her victim’s face with the hammer, causing injuries which required hospital treatment.
The mum-of-two admitted assaulting her, causing actual bodily harm, in addition to offences of affray and possessing a hammer as an offensive weapon on April 5, 2024 at the Fiveways Hotel in Hull.
She was jailed for 18 months. She already had convictions for 11 previous offences between 2008 and 2010, including assault when she was a youth, Hull Live reports.
Emma Handley, prosecuting, said that Allen had learned while pregnant with her daughter, her boyfriend had been secretly seeing the other woman. She asked the woman about it on March 13, but made no threats towards her.
However, on the day of the attack, Allen went to the pub, which had families with children inside, armed with the hammer and approached the woman before striking her on the left side of her face, causing her to scream in pain.
Allen shouted, “I’ll do you in. I will kill you”, before swinging the hammer towards the woman on at least two further occasions as her cousin attempted to restrain her.
Miss Handley said: “Members of the public intervened to remove the defendant from the pub.” A family was also seen fleeing the area.
The victim attended hospital for treatment to her injuries, which included swelling and a depressed fracture to her cheekbone, and a 1cm long cut, but no surgery was required. Her friend convinced her to report the attack to police, and Allen was arrested on April 28. During interview, she answered “no comment” to all questions.
The victim later spoke about the impact the “out of the blue” attack had had on her, saying she was “completely blindsided”, and had “no idea what instigated this behaviour”. She has been left with trouble sleeping, and a fear of being left at home alone.
She said: “I am worried that something like this will happen again. I am scared to be alone outside the house in general. I fear repercussions for me and my family. I am resorting back to nervous habits of mine.
“I am normally chatty and outgoing but now I am constantly subdued. I worry about the emotional distress I am causing my family and friends. My social anxiety is back.
“Mentally, I feel in a very low place. I never thought I would be the victim of such a vicious assault.”
Chaynee Hodgetts, mitigating, said that the altercation arose after claims Allen’s boyfriend cheated on her with the victim while Allen was pregnant with her daughter, now 15 months old. She also has an 11-year-old son. She was said to be concerned that her boyfriend’s behaviour would result in her contracting a sexually transmitted infection.
Miss Hodgetts added: “The defendant is ashamed of what she has done. She accepts that she should not have taken the hammer and it was a stupid thing to have done.
“It was a household item rather than a weapon. She is remorseful for what she has done and does very much wish to draw a line under it. She is under no illusion as to the gravity of what occurred.”
Judge Mark Bury said that Allen had found out shortly before the incident that her boyfriend had been in a sexual relationship with the woman, who she claimed had been “taunting” her about it. Passing sentence, he said: “Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody for an offence of this severity.”
She had been bailed following the attack, but was jailed for 18 months. The court heard the victim was herself jailed by the same judge for driving offences. She was originally given a 10-month suspended sentence in July 2024 after admitting dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and not holding a licence or valid insurance.
Sentence had previously been deferred in January 2024 last year for six months to give her a chance. However, she admitted breaching the suspended sentence by driving while disqualified, having no insurance and obstructing police on November 17.