A WOMAN who carried a pair of scissors in her handbag “for protection” brandished them when she joined a ruckus outside a homeless hostel.

Keri Grattan threw the scissors at Kieran George Sutton while he was embroiled in a heated hoo-ha with Kirk Joseph Edwards.

Video: Crown Prosecution Service

Jenny Yeo, prosecuting, said the fracas unfolded at the Solas Hostel in the Pill area of Newport last summer.

The incident was captured on CCTV cameras which she played at the city’s crown court.

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Mrs Yeo told Judge Daniel Williams: “The defendant held the pair of scissors above her head before she threw them.

“She later told police she carried them in her handbag for self-defence and she said she wished they had hit him.”

Grattan, 36, of Clifton Place, Newport, pleaded guilty to possessing a blade or sharply pointed article in public on July 2, 2020.

The defendant had previous convictions for assaulting an emergency worker, criminal damage and non-dwelling burglary.

Claire Pickthall, representing Grattan, said her client had led a law-abiding life until she became homeless last year.

She told the court how the defendant was living in a tent and became “dependent on alcohol”.

Ms Pickthall added: “She has now found stable accommodation and has reduced her alcohol intake.”

Judge Williams told Grattan: “You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

“There was an incident involving two men here in Newport which you became involved in.

“You were wielding a pair of scissors which you brandished.”

He added: “You have no previous convictions for weapons offences.”

The judge jailed her for 26 weeks, suspended for the next 12 months, and ordered her to complete a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She must also pay a £120 victim surcharge and £80 prosecution costs.

The other two defendants were dealt with separately at the magistrates’ court.