Debt collector in pen attack

Alison Connolly assaulted Pauline Dwyer with her own pen while she was collecting catalogue payments at a house in Penhill Drive, prosecutor Rob Welling told Swindon magistrates.

Mr Welling said Connolly, who was visiting the house, became abusive when Ms Dwyer smiled at her.

She swore at the woman and began to interfere in the transaction, telling the client not to pay up.

She accused Ms Dwyer of ruining her Christmas by not allowing her family a loan, then grabbed her pen and, according to the prosecution, stabbed it at the victim's face.

Mr Welling said Connolly only admitted throwing the pen hard at Ms Dwyer's face, causing a graze to her mouth.

Then as the victim walked away she was pursued by Connolly who continued her abuse, he added.

"Pauline Dwyer has a difficult job, a job that involves contact with members of the public and this was an assault upon her," he said.

"The pen was used as a weapon and the target was her face."

Philip Hall, defending, said: "It wasn't the collector's lucky day."

Connolly, of Erlestoke Way, Penhill, had applied for a loan from the credit company the previous Christmas, which had been declined.

She became angry and mistakenly took out her anger on the collector.

During the course of her outburst she took the pen, pulled it back and threw it towards the woman.

"She takes exception to the word 'target.'

"This was a throw in the direction of the collector.

"It was not aimed at the collector's face or any part of her body," Mr Hall said.

Neither did she accept that she had followed the collector from the doorway.

He described the incident as a "momentary loss of temper."

Connolly admitted common assault on the collector and a charge of causing actual bodily harm was dismissed.

The magistrates adjourned the hearing until July 12 for reports after hearing that Connolly had previous convictions for similar offences.

She was granted unconditional bail.

Tina Clarke