Sheffield Crown Court: Sisters 'barged' into house and got man to film attack on ex-friend over Snapchat row

Mandy Clarson, aged 36 and her sister Kelly Clarson, 37, inflicted violence upon a former friend at a Rotherham property on April 10, 2022.

As she sentenced the pair during an August 23 hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Kirstie Watson said: “What happened was utterly disgraceful. You both entered someone else’s home, a home where children were present.”

She continued: “Whilst in that house, having seen that children were present, you perpetrated violence upon the complainants.”

Prosecuting barrister, David Eager, told the court that the complainant and her 16-year-old daughter had been spending time at a friend’s house in the hours leading up to the assault.

“It seems there had been some sort of falling out that evening and various messages were being exchanged,” Mr Eager said.

He added that the parties involved are believed to have been using Snapchat to send the messages, but there is no evidence of them due to the temporary nature of communication on the social network.

The occupier of the property, who the complainant had come to visit, has two children who were in the house at the time of the incident, the court heard.

Mr Eager said: “Two younger children were present, they were in the living room, on the sofa, when the back doorbell went but before anyone could get to the door Mandy and Kelly and a male came barging in from the kitchen, into the living room.”

He added: “The persons present were very shocked and Mandy started shouting and screaming at [the complainant].”

Mr Eager described how the complainant’s daughter ‘sat on top’ of her mother in a bid to protect her, and did a ‘reasonable job’; but Mandy was ‘adamant she was going to get to the young girl’s mother’ and got her onto the floor.

“It was whilst she was on the floor that Mandy managed to take hold of the complainant’s hair...dragged her out towards the hall, and as she did that she was also kicking her,” he said.

Mr Eager said Kelly became involved at this point, and kicked the complainant once while she was on the ground.

He described the physical harm caused to the complainant as ‘relatively minor’.

The court was shown footage of a video a witness took of the incident, and Mr Eager said the man that accompanied the Clarson sisters to the property also live-streamed the incident to an unknown man via video call.

Both defendants claimed the complainant had spat at them outside the property shortly before the incident, and that this had been the catalyst for the violence they inflicted; but this was disputed by the prosecution. However, Judge Watson said she did not regard it to amount to ‘significant’ enough provocation to warrant a Newton hearing to determine whether or not their claim could be proven.

The occupier of the property fled upstairs in fear with her two young children when violence broke out.

In a victim statement she described how her daughter was ‘absolutely terrified’ at the time of the incident, and remains traumatised by what unfolded in their home.

The complainant said she was ‘scared all the time’ following the assault on her, in a statement read to the court.

She said she felt particularly aggrieved that Mandy would act in such a violent manner towards her, given what Mandy knows about the treatment she has previously endured.

Mandy, of Oak Tree Court, Rotherham and Kelly, of High Greave Road, Rotherham both pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Defending Mandy, Richard Sheldon described the violence as being ‘out of character’ for his client, adding she is a single mum to three children and also acts a carer for an autistic boy.

Michael Cane-Soothill, defending Kelly, said his client is a hard-working woman who has two jobs, adding that ‘to say she regrets her behaviour is an understatement’.

Judge Watson said she felt able to suspend the custodial sentences she imposed upon the Clarson sisters because she believes there to be a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’ in both cases.

Mandy was sentenced to 12 months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days and 80 hours’ unpaid work, while Kelly was sentenced to six months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete 15 RAR days and 40 hours’ unpaid work,