Sheffield woman who assaulted two staff members at Costa cafe spared from jail

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Aimee Horton, aged 30, of Eastern Crescent, Sheffield, struck two female staff members at a Costa, in Sheffield, and during a subsequent incident at a hotel in Blackpool she brandished a knife.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said Horton had been at the Costa, on Pinstone Street, Sheffield, in September, when she became angry after staff refused to get her a taxi and she struck one staff member with a sandwich and punched her.

Ms Hollis added that as another staff member tried to intervene they were struck by Horton before the defendant pushed her first victim into a display.

During a separate offence from January, Horton turned over a table at a hotel in Blackpool and picked-up a knife from the kitchen and helped herself to a drink in the bar before handing back the knife.

She told police she had been drinking and had failed to get back into the hotel within the curfew time.

Horton pleaded guilty to two assaults and to possessing a bladed article and to using threatening behaviour.

The court heard Horton has stopped drinking alcohol since January and she has been complying with the probation service.

Judge David Dixon told Horton she should feel proud of the progress she has made and he described her abstinence from alcohol as a “monumental achievement”.

Horton was sentenced to nine-months of custody suspended for two years with a rehabilitation requirement.