TWO men are facing custodial sentences after they burst into a Haddington home and struck the homeowner with a baseball bat and held a knife to a teenage girl’s throat.
Christopher McDonald, 31, and Craig Shaw, 54, arrived at Wendy Mein’s property carrying the weapons while looking for the woman’s partner Mark Ingle.
The pair, who were accompanied by several other people who are not being prosecuted, entered the Craig Avenue home uninvited and began to threaten Ms Mein.
Ms Mein was struck to the face with a metal green baseball bat during the attack on October 28, 2019.
On hearing the commotion, a teenage girl came downstairs from a bedroom and was attacked by Shaw who pinned her against a wall and held a knife to her throat.
Prosecutor Connor Muir told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that the gang arrived at Ms Mein’s home at about 5.30pm and, following a knock at the door, the woman spotted Shaw outside. She opened the front door and Shaw, of Newbigging, Musselburgh, and McDonald both “pushed their way in and seized hold of Wendy Mein”.
Ms Muir said Shaw was shouting “where is Mark?”
And a third male also followed them into the property.
The fiscal said McDonald, of Cedar Street, Dunbar, pulled the bat from his jacket and was “also shouting for Mark Ingle”.
The court was told there were differing testimonies as to who actually struck Ms Mein with the metal weapon but that she suffered a blow to the left side of her face.
She had severe bruising to her face and nose due to the attack, the court was told.
The fiscal said the teenage girl then came downstairs and she was grabbed by Shaw who proceeded to pull out a knife and hold it to her throat.
Shaw shouted at the girl to “shut the **** up” while pinning her against a wall within the home.
Mr Connor said the Crown had “no real information” as to why the attack took place other than there had been a disagreement between parties.
Both men then left the property and were arrested and charged soon after.
McDonald and Shaw both pleaded guilty to amended charges when they appeared in the dock at Capital’s sheriff court on Monday. Solicitors Chris McFarlane, for McDonald, and Joe Boyd, representing Shaw, said they would reserve all mitigation to the sentencing hearing.
Mr Boyd added that his client had been on bail for three years and had adhered to all the conditions since then, stating there had been “no other or additional issues between the parties within that time”.
Sheriff Donald Corke said he was content to continue bail for both men in the meantime and that he would defer sentence to next month for social work reports to be prepared.
McDonald and Shaw admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by forcing their way into a home uninvited, brandish a baseball bat towards Wendy Mein and a child, shout, swear and act aggressively towards them at Craig Avenue, Haddington, on October 28, 2019.
They also both admitted to assaulting Ms Mein by seizing her by the body and striking her on the head with a baseball bat.
Shaw pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a teenage girl by restraining her against a wall and brandishing a knife towards her and holding it against her throat, and to possessing a knife, all during the same incident.
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