Raging Bo'ness bride's violent assault ruins reception

Jealous Audrey Stevenson (46) admitted grabbing the woman by the hair and pushing her, causing her to strike her head off a door. It is understood Stevenson had been angered by the attention her friend appeared to be paying to her new husband Scott Allan.

Stevenson, 7 Foreshore Way, Bo’ness, appeared for trial at Livingston Sheriff Court on Thursday, but pled guilty to the assault she committed at Linlithgow’s Star and Garter Hotel on July 28.

At an earlier hearing it was revealed police arrested both Stevenson and her new husband at the wedding reception.

They spent their wedding night in separate cells and appeared shamefaced from custody the following Monday, having missed the flight they were supposed to catch to go on honeymoon in Mexico.

They denied the charges at their first court appearance and had a date set for trial. They were initially banned from staying overnight together at their Bo’ness home.

On that appearance, Sheriff Martin Edington told the couple’s lawyers he was not willing to allow them to return to the same house in case “recriminations broke out”.

He said: “This was arguably the ruination of one of the biggest days of their lives and you’re telling me no-one’s going to harbour any ill feeling. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be able to contact each other but not at the same address.”

Allan’s lawyer Sonia Cheema said her client had expressed “extreme shame” for having found himself in the situation he was in.

The special bail conditions barring them from sleeping in the same house were lifted after the court was told there had been no reports of any domestic abuse.

At court on Thursday, Procurator fiscal depute Katrine Craig produced photographs showing the injuries sustained by Stevenson’s victim after the attack.

Darryl Lovie, defending the bride, said there had been “particular circumstances” surrounding the offence.

He suggested Sheriff Susan Craig should hear the details of what happened and deal with his client by admonishing her or imposing a fine and a compensation order.

However, after being shown the victim’s injuries Sheriff Craig expressed concern the assault had taken place in a public place.

She said: “For an assault in a pub to cause that amount of bruising, the court is not going to be inclined to deal with the matter simply by way of a financial penalty.

“I’m going to order that a criminal justice social work report be obtained so the court has a full range of sentencing options open to it.”

Stevenson had her sentence deferred until May 10 for background reports, while her new spouse Allan (55) walked free after the prosecution accepted his not guilty plea for a threatening behaviour offence.