Woman changed her hair colour after random attack as she walked to the shop
A woman who insulted a stranger's hairstyle then pulled clumps from her head has been jailed.
Estelle Whalley, 50, was on her last warning after being handed a suspended sentence for a bomb hoax in which she claimed Chorley bus station was going to blow up.
On February 5, 2024, a woman who was walking to the shop on Pope Lane, Penwortham, heard someone make a comment about her hair from behind. As she turned to see who had spoken, Whalley grabbed the woman by her coat and pulled the hair on top of her head.
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Some of the woman's hair was removed and she told Whalley to leave her alone. The following day she had muscular pain in her shoulder which she needed physio for.
The woman was shocked at the attack, which was completely unprovoked. She asked the shop to view their CCTV and reported the attack to the police, fearing her attacker could target someone else.
Whalley, of Hawkesbury Drive, Penwortham, was arrested and charged with common assault. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced for the offence, and breaching her suspended sentence, at Preston Crown Court.
The court heard Whalley has 'clear and long standing mental health problems' which were exacerbated by her use of alcohol. In February 2023 she was handed a suspended sentence for being in possession of an imitation firearm, an air weapon, in the same area of Penwortham.
Whalley could not explain why she had attacked the woman but was sorry for what she had done, the court heard. She is now seeking support for her mental health struggles and has reduced her alcohol consumption to a bottle of wine a week.
In a victim statement the woman said she was wary of seeing her attacker again and had changed her hair colour in case that was what had prompted the attack.
The Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Robert Altham, said: "This was a totally unprovoked attack upon a stranger in the street. There is no prospect of lasting rehabilitation in the community. It has been tried. You simply go on and commit offences."
He activated the previous suspended sentences in part, handing Whalley a jail term of 38 weeks in total.