A 46-YEAR-OLD woman from Pembroke Dock was found guilty of assault following a trial at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Monday (Feb 11).
Nadine Billington of Imble Street, had been accused of assaulting her ex-partner’s sister in June last year following an argument.
Prosecutor, Sian Vaughan, told the court: “The complaint was made on August 13. There is a history of family dynamics but we will try to stay away from that.”
Ms Vaughan explained there had been issue taken with the complainant after she bought a colouring book, crayons and chocolate for Billington’s son. She was also accused of smashing the complainant’s phone.
The complainant, Nicola Algeri, gave her evidence via video link to the magistrates.
She said: “My mum and myself were in the kitchen. My father was in the living room watching football. Nadine came in through the front door and I had a colouring book and crayons with me. I’d been downtown so I thought I’d bring them.
“She came into the kitchen and I said ‘there’s a colouring book and crayons there’, and she said ‘you might as well take them home with you’.
“She takes the crayons off me and slams them on top of the book. She threw the book first and it just missed my face, and then she threw the crayons at me but they didn’t hit me. It was quite a big book.
“She comes toward me and grabbed me by the throat, and she put her fingers down my throat. She had four fingers in my mouth. There was no need. It felt like she was going to strangle me. She was horrible and vicious.
“She cut my lip as well and scratched my arm. I wasn’t saying anything, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t provoke her. She just went off on one.
“She was just abusing me and being mouthy. My mother tried to split us up, and then my father came in and managed to get her out of the house.”
It was put to Nicola Algeri, that in her statement that she made on August 13, she claims that the colouring book hit her on the head but caused no injury.
Nicola claimed she could not remember.
When speaking of the assault, Nicola said: “She prised my mouth open and she had her bloody fingers down my throat.”
When asked why she didn’t bit down, she said: “I didn’t do nothing. I was scared.”
The court was shown a photograph of a bruise on Nicola’s arm following the incident, however there were no photographs of her mouth or her ‘cut lip’.
When asked why she didn’t take a photo of her lip, she said ‘no comment’, then later said she ‘didn’t have a camera to take a photo’.
Nicola’s mother, Ellen Algeri, took to the witness stand following her daughter’s cross-examination to give her account of what happened.
Mrs Algeri told the court that she saw a chocolate bar being thrown across the room and ‘hitting Nicola on the head’, however when she was pressed further, she said she couldn’t be sure it was a chocolate bar that was thrown, and she wasn’t entirely sure whether whatever was thrown did actually hit Nicola.
She also admitted she did not see Billington put her fingers inside Nicola’s mouth.
Albino Algeri, Nicola’s father, was next to speak to the magistrates. He said: “Nadine was trying to do as much damage as she could.”
When asked why he thought Billington would have her fingers down Nicola’s throat, he said: “That’s what I’d like to know! Why did she have her fingers down my daughter’s throat?”
He told the court that Nicola Algeri was crying following the incident, however was the only one to mention this during their evidence.
Finally, it was Nadine Billington’s turn to speak. She told the court that as she was leaving, Nicola Algeri said she had bought a gift for her son.
Billington suggested leaving the gift there, and said Nicola ‘became verbally aggressive’.
She said: “I chucked the book and crayons toward the bin. Nicola started shouting at me because she thought I threw it at her but I didn’t, I threw it diagonally. I threw it because she was being verbally aggressive.
“Nicola came around the table towards me so I pushed her away toward the sink. She looked very angry and aggressive. I thought she was going to hit me. I told her I had enough of the way she was talking to me and she was screaming and shouting, calling me names like slag and slut.
“Ellen Algeri followed me out and said that Nicola wasn’t right in the head and to ignore her. I didn’t strangle her, I just pushed her toward her neck away from me. I didn’t pull at her mouth, and I didn’t touch her phone. I didn’t even see it in her hand.”
After a short time deliberating, the magistrates at Haverfordwest Law Court felt there was a case to answer, and found Billington guilty of common assault.
Billington was handed a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £600 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service and £20 victim surcharge.
