Mum suffered fractured eye socket in Ugg boot kick attack as 'bad blood' simmered between women in Leeds village

A mum suffered a fractured eye socket after being kicked in the face by a woman wearing Ugg boots on the driveway of her home in a Leeds village.
Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.
Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.

Emma Howard carried out the assault on the victim after accusing her of "running her mouth off".

Leeds Crown Court heard Howard stopped her car and launched herself at the woman as she stood waiting for her daughter to return home from school.

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Carl Fitch, prosecuting, said the background to the incident was "bad blood" between the women over a man.

Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.
Emma Howard was wearing Ugg boots when she kicked a woman in the face, fracturing her eye socket, during attack in Clifford, near Wetherby.

The attack happened in Clifford, near Wetherby, at 3.30pm on October 23 last year.

Mr Fitch said Howard, 37, approached the 44-year-old victim, called her a "fat b****" and accused her of telling lies.

Howard tried to punch the woman in the face but she dodged the blow.

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The victim fell to the floor during a struggle.

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Mr Fitch said: "The defendant delivered one kick to the left side of her head, connecting with her temple area."

Howard was dragged away by people who witnessed the incident before getting back into her car and driving away.

The victim suffered a fractured eye socket, blurred vision and swelling to her face.

Howard, of Willow Avenue, Clifford, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

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The defendant told a probation officer who interviewed her about the attack that she would "do this again."

Mr Fitch read a victim statement to the court on the woman's behalf in which she described living in fear of Howard since the incident.

She said: "I do not go out of the house unless I am escorted by someone.

"I used to enjoy going to the local pub but I do not go out because I am scared and anxious.

"I feel scared and on edge when Emma walks past.

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"I am constantly scared in my own home. Emma is a nuisance in the village. She constantly torments people.

"I am literally terrified of everyday tasks.

"Each time I hear someone at the door now my heart misses a beat.

"Emma has ruined my life and really knocked my confidence."

Marcus Waite, mitigating, said Howard's attack on the woman was unplanned.

She said: "There had been simmering bad blood and the defendant drove by and jumped out of her car spontaneously and the attack was brief.

"The defendant was wearing Ugg boots."

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Mr Waite continued: "What the defendant says is that on seeing the victim she has lost her temper - lost her rag - and got out of the car and did what she did.

"She did not plan to do it."

Mr Waite said that at the time of the incident Howard was in an abusive relationship with a man who is now serving a prison sentence for domestic violence offences against her.

He said: "It was in the period when she was the victim of violence herself."

Howard was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

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She was also ordered to take part in a 30-day rehabilitation programme and was made the subject of a restraining order not to contact the victim or go near her home.

Judge Simon Phillips, QC, said: "You have come within a hair's breadth of going to custody. I hope you know that.

"I hope this order works for you in your community."