A Bucksburn woman had been ordered to stay away from a child after she placed the girl’s hand on a kitchen counter and stabbed between her fingers with a knife.
Rosemary Laing, 53, was found guilty after a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of repeatedly assaulting the girl over a more than eight-year period.
The child was aged only five years old when the physical abuse began.
A number of the assaults took place at an address in Bucksburn, during a car journey and at a church in the city.
Laing was also convicted at trial of carrying out abusive behaviour towards her former partner which included attempting to push him down a flight of stairs.
Child attacked with coat hanger
During the trial, jurors heard how Laing repeatedly assaulted the girl by striking her on the body with a coat hanger to her injury.
It was also stated that, on other occasions, she repeatedly held the girl’s hand down on a kitchen counter and struck a knife between her fingers onto the countertop.
Laing carried out the assault while uttering threats of violence, the court heard.
The woman also physically assaulted the child on a number of occasions by pushing her to the body and, in one instance, shoved her against a wall and struck her to the head and body.
Laing also threw a remote control at the girl, grabbed her around the neck and shoved her against a fridge, scratched her on the body and threw the contents of a glass at her.
A former partner of Laing also suffered physical abuse when she grabbed him around the neck and tightened her grip and attempted to push him down a set of stairs.
She would also repeatedly throw household items at him – on one occasion hurling a telephone at him which struck him on the head, causing injury.
Following the trial, a jury found Laing guilty of one charge of repeated attacks on a child and a second charge of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive towards her former partner.
Mum ordered to stay away
Sheriff Ian Wallace told Laing: “These are obviously serious offences you have been found guilty of.
“However, I take into account the circumstances of the case and the age of the offences.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wallace made Laing subject to a community payback order for 12 months and ordered her to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
He also put a non-harassment order in place, meaning the Laing, of Market Street, Bucksburn, cannot approach the girl for 10 months and her former partner for two years.
The sheriff told her this was in order for her to have time to “reflect” on her actions and “learn lessons” from her behaviour.
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