Yahoo News 'You've been sleeping with my man' - jealous woman breaks into love rival's home then orders dog to bite her
A mum-to-be has avoided going to prison after she broke into the home of a love rival and attacked her.
Elisha Bayman, 28, believed the other woman had been having an affair with her long term partner and quizzed the woman on Facebook. However the other woman did not respond and Bayman continued her relationship.
On December 6, 2022, the other woman was in bed when she heard banging outside her house and someone shouting her name. At first she thought it was the police and went to check, Sarah Magill, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court.
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She heard her front door swing back and saw Bayman, standing at the bottom of her stairs with her dog.
"The defendant tried to get the dog to go upstairs and bite the complainant, but the dog was having none of that," Ms Magill said. Instead, Bayman went upstairs, grabbed the woman by her hair and punched her in the head, saying: "You've been sleeping with my man."
The woman's 10-year-old daughter saw what was happening and started crying. Bayman said to the woman they could have "a friendly chat downstairs".
However the woman took her daughter back to her bedroom and called 999. Bayman left the house and threw a child's scooter at the front window, causing it to smash. She was arrested at 3.25am at an address linked to her, the court heard.
In a police statement, the victim said she suffered fear and distress following the intrusion and attack in her home. She said she was scared Bayman would find out where she lived and "next time it will be worse".
Defending, Jonathan Lally said Bayman had been going through "an extremely difficult and traumatic time" when her nine-year-relationship began disintegrating. She had been gaslit by her partner and her mental health was spiralling.
"Through anxiety and emotional turmoil she was going through she acted in an entirely inappropriate way," Mr Lally said. She added Bayman had not received a formal education but had worked as a carer. She is now pregnant and her relationship with her ex partner is over.
Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi, sentencing, said: "In your interview you said your victim had made false allegations about you and wouldn't leave you alone. It doesn't matter what went on in terms of her and your partner having a relationship. You were not entitled to enter her house and you were not entitled to assault her.
"You may have wanted to know what was going on but you have no right to enter her house as you did. This occurred in front of her child, in the middle of the night, in a place she was entitled to feel safe."
However Recorder Siddiqi said there was work whch could be done with the Probation Service to rehabilitate Bayman and she considered her pregnancy when handing down a suspended sentence.
Bayman, of Waverley Gardens, Ribbleton, was handed a 12 month sentence suspended for 12 months with 25 days of rehabilitation activities. She was also handed a restraining order and told to stay away from her victim.
