A SHERIFF has agreed to “take a bit of a gamble” on a woman who carried out a violent assault on two people during a row in a Helensburgh street.

Margaret Methven saw red after hearing offensive remarks about her sister, and assaulted a man and his daughter in the disturbance at the east end of the town earlier this year.

Methven, 31, appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing on October 13.

She had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to carrying out the violent attack – in which she kicked the man in the groin and spat in his face, and seized his daughter by the hair – in Old Luss Road on the night of April 27.

Fiscal depute Martina McGuigan told the court the incident happened after another man, the daughter's former partner, made arrangements to go to her home to collect his belongings.

Methven, of Victoria Street in Dumbarton, carried out the drunken assault when she met the first man and his daughter a short time later in Old Luss Road – and though police arrived on the scene at around 8.15pm, they found Methven was too intoxicated to be cautioned and charged.

Methven's solicitor, Scott Adair, told the court his client had carried out the attack after hearing the man make inappropriate remarks about Methven's sister, and seeing him gesture towards her by holding on to his groin.

“She saw the red mist come down, and she behaved as she did towards him,” Mr Adair said. “His daughter then tried to break them up.”

Mr Adair said his client's record of previous convictions did her no credit, but pointed out that it was seven years since her last conviction for a violent offence.

“You could take a bit of a gamble on her,” Mr Adair told the sheriff, “and place her on a community payback order and have a fairly early review.

“She knows the other alternative is to leave the court here another way. That may be coming today, or it may be coming on another day.”

Sheriff William Gallacher, who asked for a background report after the previous guilty plea, decided to follow the course of action suggested by Mr Adair – but warned Methven that she would go to prison if she failed to comply with any aspect of the order.

“I'm not impressed with the report, or with what is going on just now,” the sheriff said.

“This is unacceptable behaviour, and sadly it is not untypical of your view of the world.

“The way you are dealing with court orders at the moment is not acceptable. I'm very tempted to say today that the balance is gone, and the only way to deal with the matter is to send you to prison.

“I'm not going to do that today. If you agree I will place you on supervision for 18 months. You must attend appointments with your supervising officer, listen to their advice, and comply with that advice.

“Are you telling me you're going to agree to this? Are you going to do it?”

Methven answered “yes” to both of those questions – to which the sheriff replied: “If you don't do it I'm going to immediately revoke the order and send you to prison – and that's where you'll be for Christmas.”

As part of the 18-month supervision requirement Methven was also handed a 'restriction of liberty order' confining her to her home address between 7pm and 7am each day for the next three months.

She was also told to return to court in six weeks for a review of the order.

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