A blonde mum was snared for her role in a gang attack on a drunk partygoer after being identified by her “very distinctive” hair.
Courtney Ellwood, 21, was part of a group who battered Fraser Brown in a dawn assault in Edinburgh and left him covered in blood.
The victim refused to cooperate with police, but cops were able to pick out Ellwood on CCTV due to her tresses.
Fraser was the boyfriend of one of Ellwood’s pals and was jumped after leaving a drinking session.
Ellwood appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday and pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury while acting with others.
Fiscal depute Xander Van Der Scheer said Fraser had been at his girlfriend’s home in Cable’s Wynd House - better known locally as the Leith Banana Flats which featured in Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting - where they’d been joined by other people for drinks.
Mr Van Der Scheer said the victim left at around 5.40am and was near to the entrance to Parliament Street when he was attacked.
The court heard Fraser suffered a cut to his ear along with bruising and swelling to his face.
Police were called over the disturbance, the prosecutor said, and officers arrived to find Fraser “stumbling about” with “blood over his head”.
Fraser was “reluctant” to provide details about the incident, the court heard, and he was taken to a police station after refusing medical attention.
But Mr Van Der Scheer said cops studied CCTV footage from the area and saw that a “fight” had occurred.
The officers were able to identify Ellwood as one of the attackers, he added.
Ellwood admitted assaulting Fraser in Cables Wynd and Parliament Street along with others, repeatedly punching him in the face and kicking him on the body while he was on the ground.
Defence agent Victoria Good said a “number of people” had been involved in the assault.
Ms Good said her client was traced from the footage due to a “distinctive item of clothing” and her “very distinctive” hair.
The solicitor said Ellwood’s friend had been in a relationship with Fraser and called her to “assist”.
Ms Good said Ellwood, who gave birth to a child in recent months, “stupidly” agreed to help out her pal before the incident on December 19 2020.
Sheriff Roderick Flinn told Ellwood: “On the face of it, this is a serious offence but I accept you did not act alone.”
The sheriff fined Ellwood, of Leith, £210.
