An Inverness woman was acquitted of stabbing a cyclist who confronted her because he believed she was shouting and swearing at him in her garden.
But Charlene MacLean, 27, of Wyvis Place, was found guilty by a jury’s unanimous verdict of breaking the peace outside her home on February 5 this year.
However she will not be punished for the offence because fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart did not ask Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood to sentence her.
He explained: “She was first indicted in October of last year, has been on bail since February of this year and has been awaiting the jury’s decision since then.
“The offence she has been convicted of is relatively minor compared to what she was facing and in these circumstances I am not moving for sentence.”
Sheriff Fleetwood then explained to the jury: “She has had this hanging over her head for a long time. She will have a conviction recorded against her but that is all.”
The jury heard that MacLean was distressed and frightened that her ex-boyfriend was about to break a bail condition and come to see her.
A jury was told she had phoned the police to report her concern. However as she waited in her garden for officers to arrive, she turned on her mother in her frightened state.
She claimed the passing cyclist, Andrew Chinskie was not the target of her abuse, but thought he was.
MacLean’s mother, charity support worker Margaret, 50, told the court: “She was shouting at me, not him. He stopped his bike, came back and slapped Charlene on the side of the head, calling her a muppet.
“I saw Charlene hit his arm with her open hand but no other contact. He then pushed her over the fence and she went up to the toilet.
“The police were there in seconds because they were already on their way.”
The court was told that no knife was found.
MacLean had denied assaulting Mr Chinskie by striking him on the arm with a knife to his injury.
