A North Tyneside mum attacked two women with an iron after hearing them talk outside her window.
Leanne Geddes carried out the violent and unprovoked attack on April 13, 2019, leaving one of the women with permanent scarring. Newcastle Crown Court heard that the 42-year-old used an iron as a weapon, before kicking into one of the women as she lay motionless on the ground.
Geddes, of Castle Square, Backworth, North Tyneside, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. She had pleaded guilty to the charges at a previous hearing.
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Jemima Stephenson, prosecuting, said at around 3.30am Geddes "heard voices" outside her house of two women who had been out socialising with friends. Geddes shouted at them from her upstairs window, and the women came closer into her garden so they could hear what she was saying.
It was then that Geddes ran out of her house armed with an iron and hit one of the women on the forehead with it. The force of the blow knocked the woman to the ground and Geddes laid into her with kicks.
She also swung the iron at the second woman, which also connected with the back of her head. The court heard that "considerable injury" was caused to one of the women, and she had to be treated for a "V-shaped laceration to the left side of her forehead".
The victims fled to a nearby address and the police and an ambulance were called. In interview, Geddes said she had thought she was "under attack" after an earlier, unconnected incident involving her autistic daughter.
Penny Hall, defending, said Geddes had entered guilty pleas and had not committed any further offences since 2019. She said she has mental health difficulties and is also a carer for her daughter.
The court heard that the reason for the delay in sentencing was that soon after the offences were committed, Geddes had to undergo treatment for cancer. As a result of her treatment, Ms Hall said Geddes' "memory is vague" as it is affected by her medication.
"In respect of the circumstances of the offending, the defendant's memory is vague, her memory is affected by her treatment and medication", she said, "A female had come into her garden and she accepts she committed the offences", she added.
Sentencing Geddes, Miss Recorder Davies said the assault was "very dangerous" and the injuries were "considerable" but called the defendant a "very vulnerable individual".
Geddes was given a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and must complete up to 20 rehabilitation days. She was also made subject of a three month electronic curfew and must pay a total of £600 compensation.
