Sisters jailed after violent attack on friend in Chester city centre
Two sisters who violently assaulted a friend and left her unconscious in the street have been jailed.
Charlotte and Katrina Whitham appeared at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday 17 December, where Charlotte was sentenced to two years in prison and Katrina was jailed for eight months.
The pair had both pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The court heard that on the night of Sunday 3 August, the sisters had been on a night out in Chester city centre with a friend, a 38-year-old woman, when a verbal altercation broke out on Watergate Street.
The argument quickly escalated into violence. Katrina pulled the victim’s hair while Charlotte punched her repeatedly to the head before kneeing her in the face.
After initially leaving the scene, the sisters turned back following a comment from the victim. Katrina ran back and grappled the woman to the ground, pinning her using her bodyweight.
While the victim was restrained, Charlotte delivered more than 20 blows to her head and attempted to break her right arm by stamping on it twice.
The victim was then left unconscious in the middle of the street after Katrina stamped on her head. Members of the public came to her aid.
The attack was captured on CCTV, with operators alerting police. Officers tracked the sisters down within 13 minutes and arrested them.
During her arrest, Katrina was heard saying to officers: “Oh yeah, I have done that,” in reference to the assault.
During police interviews, Katrina denied causing serious injury, while Charlotte answered no comment to all questions and refused to view CCTV footage of the incident.
Despite initially denying responsibility, both sisters later pleaded guilty to the offence.
Detective Constable Tim Butler, who led the investigation, said:
“This nasty and violent assault doled out by Katrina and Charlotte Whitham resulted in someone they considered to be their friend left alone and unconscious in the middle of Chester city centre with very serious injuries.
“With that in mind, following the conclusion of this investigation, I welcome the sentences handed to the Whitham sisters and I hope they spend their time behind bars to seriously consider their actions and what it means to be someone’s friend.
“This case goes to show how a snap decision to turn to violence can have serious repercussions. Their actions, obviously fuelled by the amount of alcohol they had consumed during the day of the incident, now means that they will be spending Christmas away from their respective families.”
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