by A woman left children in tears when she arrived on the doorstep armed with a pair of scissors. Samantha Hurley attacked a shopkeeper and abused a stranger, calling him a “c***” after he refused to give her money for a taxi.
After downing an entire liter of vodka, she punched the two men before going on to attack two police officers when she was arrested. Her crime spree escalated when she threatened to stab another woman, after she was found lurking in her garden with a piece of glass.
Liverpool Crown Court was told yesterday, Thursday, about Hurley’s “spree of offence” which took place on January 5 this year. It started when she turned up at Kelly Preston’s residence on Holywell Close in St Helens, following a message the mother received just before 5pm that evening warning her that Hurley, 38, of Carnegie Crescent, was in town on the way. to her house.
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Prosecutor Iain Criddle detailed how the victim in question secured her doors while at home with her two young children, aged seven and 11, and was “worried because she was aware of the reputation of the defendant”. Hurley then arrived at the property, hammered on the front door and windows with a pair of scissors before moving to the back of the house in an attempt to get in through the back.
She then proceeded to stand on a car bonnet outside and damaged hanging baskets at the address before leaving. Mobile phone footage of part of the incident was shown to the court, and children’s cries could be heard in the background as the horrific scene played out, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Hurley then moved on to the nearby Cost Savers store on Ridgewood Drive. Here, the employee Sembukutti De Silva refused to sell her two bottles of wine because of her apparent drunkenness. In response, she threw the alcohol on the floor, causing the bottles to break.
CCTV footage showed a customer carrying a small child moving out of her way as she made her way around the counter, where she then tried to hit the employee. Afterwards, Hurley left and encountered John Kerfoot outside his house on Gerards Lane as he was returning from work.
She asked the mental health nurse for money for a taxi but he became hostile when he refused – hurling insults at him, punching him in the face and teasing him. The stranger then destroyed plant pots outside his property, causing £150 worth of damage.
After her arrest, Hurley scraped one police officer’s hand and spread it on another police officer, claiming she had Covid. She was later released under investigation. However, she later visited the home of a woman she did not know – Sharon Boulton – shortly after 8am on April 14.
Ring’s doorbell camera alerted the resident to an intruder, which caught Hurley making her way down the side of the house. This prompted Miss Boulton to confront the thief, asking him, “what are you doing in the garden?” To which the uninvited guest returned, “What does that have to do with you? I’ll just stab you. F. *** off.”
It was reported that Hurley appeared to be drunk again. When she was again held nearby, a glass rod was found in her pocket.
Hurley’s criminal history reveals 16 previous convictions for 34 offences, including a six-year sentence for grievous bodily harm with intent in 2012 and a further four-year term for the same offense in 2015. In court, Desmond Lennon, defending, said: “She sits before the court now ashamed and embarrassed by her behavior.”
He added: “She is particularly remorseful because of the fact that there were young children in the property. It is quite clear from the recording that the children were very sensitive.
“On each occasion the behavior appears to have been an angry reaction to what she believed to be offensive comments about aspects of her character while she was heavily under the influence of drink. After drinking a liter of vodka and some medication to take, she went over to Kelly Preston’s house and behaved as badly as she did.
“When she went into Cost Savers, the gentleman behind the counter very responsibly refused to give her alcohol and threw the bottles of alcohol to the floor. alcohol and controlled drugs.
“She has a very unhappy background. There are personal issues that will inevitably affect her behaviour. She has had a very difficult time dealing with those personal issues.
“She is making good progress at HMP Styal. If she is able to continue her progress, this sentence will not be a burden on her. It will be an opportunity for her to continue her progress.”
Hurley admitted three counts of assault, two counts of assaulting an emergency services worker, using threatening behaviour, two counts of possessing a bladed article in a public place, and three counts of criminal damage. Seen in the dock wearing a beige cable knit jumper with long dark hair, she was jailed for 12 months and given a five-year restraining order.
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: “The prosecution have described this as an offending spree, and that description is necessary. You have significant, more serious previous convictions.”
“You have a long-standing addiction to alcohol and controlled drugs, which you are now dealing with. It will be a lifelong need for you to stay out of trouble and save your mental and physical health to stay without alcohol and drugs.”
