A WOMAN from Abergele who assaulted her neighbour after a dispute supposedly about the installation of a camera has been spared jail.

Soraya Portwood, 35, of Rhuddlan Road, was handed a 12-month community order at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court today (November 20).

Portwood’s suspended sentence order, which she had been issued with following a previous conviction, was not activated.

The court heard that, on September 6, Kirsty Fletcher went to her car when she saw Portwood outside.

At the time, Portwood was making a barricade between their gardens, with there having been a suggestion that this was because Ms Fletcher had upset her by installing a camera.

Portwood had a dog lead in her hand and, while “swinging it about”, hit the bonnet of Ms Fletcher’s car.

She continued to swing it in an attempt to hit her, while also screaming at Ms Fletcher, before hitting her right arm with the metal part of the lead, causing her a “burning sensation”.

Giving a victim statement, Ms Fletcher said that the incident had “affected me financially”, and that her child doesn’t want to stay with her anymore because of Portwood’s behaviour.

Ms Fletcher said she, too, is “constantly on edge”, adding: “I don’t like living here anymore”.

In mitigation for Portwood, who had a previous conviction for assaulting an emergency worker, the court heard that threats were allegedly made against her by an associate of Ms Fletcher the previous night.

Portwood has also suffered a decline in her mental health, having been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and was previously diagnosed with both bipolar and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

District judge Gwyn Jones, presiding over the hearing, deemed it “unjust” to activate Portwood’s suspended sentence.

She will complete 10 days of rehabilitation activity requirements, and pay costs of £85, compensation of £400, and a fine of £100.

“Please don’t put yourself in any position where you find yourself in breach of the order,” he told Portwood.