Old school friends in pub altercation

Simmering tension between two former school friends came to a head when they met in a Crowland pub in September, a court has heard.

Trina Ann Hirel Crane (35), of South Street, Crowland admitted assaulting Emma Sallis by beating when she appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Dan Pietryka said that on the evening of September 23, Emma Sallis was in the Abbey Hotel in Crowland with her mother when she was approached by Crane who punched her on the left thigh, pulled her to the ground by her hair and punched her face several times.

He said customers intervened and the police were called and Crane told them she had known the victim for some time and admitted there had been issues between them for the past nine years.

Mitigating, Michael Alexander said Crane had “entirely” accepted the cause was her “lack of control”.

He said all the parties involved had known each other since school days and had been friends.

He said Crane’s husband “had a fling” with Ms Sallis before he had married the defendant, but the friendship between the former school friends had ended, although they had occasionally seen each other at joint friends’ parties.

He said Crane and her husband had gone with friends to the pub for the first time for a month when Emma Sallis and her mother came in and walked straight past them.

But when both women were at the bar, comments were made and Crane “lost her act completely” and carried out the assault.

Mr Alexander said Crane, who had no previous convictions, was ‘mad at herself’ for allowing the incident to happen and accepted her actions were ‘completely wrong’.

The magistrates imposed a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered Crane to pay £85 in costs and £125 compensation to Ms Sallis.