Mum dragged woman to the ground in attack outside school after daughters fell out

A young mum dragged a woman by her hair and threatened to kill her after their daughters had a minor falling out over the school holidays.

The attack outside the school gates saw 25-year-old Jessica Kitching drag the mum by her ponytail and kick her in the face, a court heard.

Preston Crown Court heard that the women’s daughters both attended school together in September 2023, but had a minor argument during the school holidays.

On September 21, 2023, Kitching followed the other mum out of the school playground, dragged her to the ground and knelt on her chest before repeatedly kicking her in the face while the mum begged for her to stop.

Kitching was dragged off the woman by another friend, but as she walked away she screamed: ‘I know where you live. I’ll f****** kill you.’

In a victim statement read out in court, she said she was embarrassed and humiliated to have been attacked on the school run in front of other parents and children. She said she considered changing her daughter’s school but did not think it was appropriate.

The victim went to the hospital with grazes and bruises on her face, with doctors also suspecting the woman had a hairline nose fracture.

She was also worried Kitching would turn up at her house, she said. A judge was told, that since the attack the children have played out together and there have been no further violent encounters.

Kitching has no previous convictions, and could not explain why she lost her temper and started the attack.

The court heard she told a probation officer she was ashamed of what she had done and wanted to apologise to her victim, pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Sentencing, Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi said: ‘This happened near a school and in the presence of children. You were unable to control your behaviour in front of the children. She must have been terrified by being pulled to the floor and kicked by you. There was the use of a shod foot as a weapon.

‘This offence is so serious and your behaviour that day was so unacceptable that only a custodial sentence can be justified. Your behaviour that day was appalling.’

Kitching was given a sentence of 30 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, with 15 days rehabilitation activities and 60 hours of unpaid work in the community.

A similar instance happened in 2019, when two mums were filmed fighting and pulling each other’s hair outside school gates in Birmingham, prompting a police response.

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