Penrith woman swung metal object at her dad

Rebecca Smaile, 30, found herself in hot water after an incident in the early hours the morning on May 26 which, a court heard, occurred against a background of domestic difficulties.

Prosecutor Peter Bardsley told magistrates sitting in Carlisle that Smaile went to the home of her father, who looked outside and heard her speaking.

He went outside and saw she was holding something in her hand which she swung, causing her father to take evasive action. “It missed me because I ducked down,” he had said.

Mr Bardsley told the court this was a metal Wellington boot puller, saying: “It didn’t hit him. It was swung at him.”

During the commotion the man’s partner — Smaile’s step-mother — was trying to push her away. “She has grabbed a large chunk of hair and pulled that out,” said Mr Bardsley.

Smaile then kicked a nearby light motion sensor, leaving wires hanging out.

In court, she admitted two charges of assault by beating and one of criminal damage.

The step-mother had told how Smaile had also tagged friends into social media posts about her, and stated: “It’s having a major impact on my personal and business life.”

Defence solicitor Trystan Roberts said Smail had admitted the three offences at the earliest opportunity, and asked that she be given credit for that.

“She shows an enormous amount of remorse in respect of what has happened,” said Mr Roberts. “She regrets the incident. It arises out of a history of difficulty with her father.”

Smaile accepted she had inadvertently swung the object at him on the night, having initially tripped over it. She accepted grabbing the woman’s hair but didn’t believe that much had been pulled out.

Magistrates adjourned the case for preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report. Smaile, of Carleton Drive, Penrith, is due to be sentenced on January 2.

In the meantime she was granted bail on condition she has no contact with her father and his partner, and doesn’t attend their Penrith address.