Huddersfield women 'looking for Bruce' hacked at barricaded living room door with axe

Leeds Crown Court
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A Huddersfield woman was left terrified when her sister-in-law and her friend barged into her house and began hacking at a door with an axe.

Gemma Cuthbert, 40, and Laura Boylan, 33, went to the woman's home on August 15, 2022, after her husband - and Cuthbert's brother - were taken away by police during an argument.

Leeds Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the woman was at home with her son and his partner when she heard someone come through the door. Prosecutor Oliver Norman said: "They were stood in the communal hallway. They said they were looking for 'Bruce' and she told them he wasn't there. Gemma Cuthbert replied, 'I don't give a f*** who is there."

Read more: Former Emmerdale director made Harry Styles brag while grooming teenage boy

The court heard the woman went to call the police, but Boylan, of Manor Rise in Huddersfield, took it from her before she became physical with her, grabbing hold of her top and trying to pull her to the bathroom. Mr Norman said: "She managed to resist and she [Boylan] punched her to the left cheek."

It was said the woman, her son and his partner then managed to barricade themselves into the living room but one of the group started to hack at the door with a small axe. His honour Judge Mansell went on to tell the court the woman believed it was Boylan that had hold of the weapon, but both she and Cuthbert denied this.

The ordeal eventually came to an end when the woman's son said he had called the police. Boylan and Cuthbert were arrested nearby a short time later. They went on to plead guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause fear of violence.

In a victim impact statement, the woman told the court her youngest son will no longer live with her due to his fear that she cannot keep him safe. She said she still suffers anxiety and sleeplessness and does not go out alone, but when she does she gets nervous.

She said: "I no longer feel safe when I'm out of my home. I'm taking sleeping tablets and antidepressants...I had to change my phone number."

Get all the latest and breaking West Yorkshire court news straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter here.

Mitigating for Boylan, of Manor Rise, Huddersfield, Susannah Proctor said: "I make it clear from the outset that she doesn't accept she was handling the axe during the incident. There is no suggestion from the Crown it was taken by the defendants, it was already at the property."

The court heard from a Probation Worker who had prepared a stand-down report and said Boylan's 14-year-old daughter lives with her. The courtheard she had one previous conviction from 2014 for production of cannabis.

For Cuthbert, of Moor End Court, Huddersfield, Tonicha Allen, said she gives a "similar account" in relation to the axe. A Probation Service worker who had prepared a stand-down report for her said she has a 17-year-old son living with her, and he is employed as a market researcher and has been with her partner for three years "on and off."

His Honour Judge Mansell made both Boylan and Cuthbert the subjects of a 12-month community order. He ordered them to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and told them they would be subject to a restraining order in relation to the victim for the next two years.