A WOMAN who carried out a 'despicable' attack on a Port Glasgow shop worker by dragging her to the ground by the hair has been jailed.

Bernadette Gemmell assaulted a woman working at the town’s Food Warehouse store, at the Gallagher Retail Park, on December 9 last year.

The 41-year-old admitted the offence at Greenock Sheriff Court last month and returned for sentencing on Wednesday.

The court heard that the woman had been working in the shop when she observed Gemmell in an aisle at around 1.20pm.

She approached her and spoke with her regarding a separate matter, with a verbal altercation then taking place.

Gemmell appeared at Greenock Sheriff Court (Image: Newsquest) A fiscal depute said: “The accused tried to exit the store but was prevented from doing so.

“The complainer stood in front of her to prevent her from leaving.

“The accused grabbed the complainer by the hair and dragged her to the ground before leaving the premises.

“Police attended a few days later but were unable to trace the accused.”

The court was shown CCTV footage of the incident, in which Gemmell can be seen taking hold of the woman’s hair and travelling several metres towards the door before the complainer is dragged to the ground.

Defence solicitor Amy Spencer said her client had ‘limited recollection’ of the incident and tendered her plea after being shown the video evidence.

The lawyer noted that Gemmell was under the influence of drugs at the time, with her substance misuse having ‘spiralled out of control’ following a bereavement.


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Ms Spencer added: “Ms Gemmell described her conduct on that occasion as despicable.

“She is extremely ashamed and apologetic for her conduct.

“When viewing the footage of this incident, she was horrified.”

Sheriff Thomas Ward told Gemmell, of Milton Road, that retail workers should be ‘protected from people like you’.

He sentenced her to a period of 108 days imprisonment, which will be backdated to October 3, the date she was first remanded in custody.

Following the sentencing, Greenock-born West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene said: “Whilst verdicts and sentencing are a matter for the judiciary, attacks on retail workers are utterly unacceptable.

Jamie Greene said attacks on retail workers were becoming 'far more common'. (Image: Office of Jamie Greene MSP)

"However, as we have seen in recent years these kinds of attacks regrettably seem to be on the rise.

“No one should have to go to work fearing for their own safety, but it is sadly becoming far more common.

"As this case shows, local police have been working hard to respond to these incidents, and their continued efforts to tackle retail crime and keep our high streets safe are appreciated by the whole community.”