An Aberdeen wedding descended into chaos when a drunken guest argued with her mother-in-law, slapped the best man, assaulted a cop and had to be restrained to the ground.
Stephanie Norburn drank a large amount of alcohol while attending a wedding at Maryculter House Hotel with her husband, who was also the best man, in October.
But the romantic occasion soon turned into a nightmare when, following a row with her mother-in-law, the boozy 28-year-old slapped her husband twice in the face.
Police were called as a result and Norburn ended up swinging punches and kicks at an officer and had to be restrained on the ground.
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the couple had attended the wedding reception at the hotel on October 3.
She said Norburn consumed a large of alcohol over the course of the evening.
In the early hours of the following morning an “argument arose” between Norburn and her mother-in-law.
Following this, she made her way to the ballroom area and began to argue with her partner.
Ms Martin said: “During this, the accused slapped him twice to the face.
‘She wishes to stress to the court that this is not her’
“The pair were separated and moved to different areas of the hotel. Police were contacted and attended shortly after.”
Officers attempted to calm Norburn down but she “squared up” to a female constable and “proceeded to swing out both her hands with closed fists and variously punched the officer to the chest area”.
She also kicked her multiple times to the shin, causing bruising.
The officer requested assistance and Norburn had to be restrained to the floor.
Norburn, of Hill of Forss, Thurso, pled guilty to a domestically aggravated charge of assault, as well as to assaulting the police officer to her injury.
Defence agent Sian Fish handed Sheriff Graham Buchanan a number of written documents, the content of which was not disclosed in open court.
She told the court tensions had been running high at the time of the incident.
The solicitor said her client accepted slapping her husband, but, in relation to the police assault, suggested Norburn had reacted to a comment made by the officer.
Ms Fish went on: “She wishes to stress to the court that this is not her and she has never behaved in such a manner in her whole life and would never again.
‘It would be pretty unfair to treat Ms Norburn differently’
“She can’t explain what happened.”
Sheriff Buchanan replied: “Well, it was down to drink, wasn’t it?”
The sheriff said he would be reluctant to grant an absolute discharge over the matter, which would mean the conviction would not go on Norburn’s record.
He added: “Is that not just a story one hears day in, day out in these courts, and there’s simply nothing exceptional whatsoever about the circumstances of this incident?
“This is just the sort of thing that does tend to happen when people have too much to drink and stressful situations arise.
“It would be pretty unfair to treat Ms Norburn differently to all the other people that come along and say ‘well, I was drunk’. That’s no excuse.”
Ms Fish said her client had not drunk alcohol for around two years prior to the incident, and said Norburn was concerned about the impact the conviction would have on her as she studied for an HND in childcare.
Sheriff Buchanan said: “I don’t think I can possibly be persuaded, in the whole circumstances, that this is a case for an absolute discharge.”
He fined Norburn £320.
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