Woman assaulted arcade manager in South Shields over stuck £20 note
A sweet shop worker pushed a gaming arcade boss and threatened an assistant in a row over a £20 note, a court heard.
Victoria Clark, 49, gambled on success when she played on a machine at the Dunes amusement centre at South Shields seafront.
But Clark, of Lincoln Road, Horsley Hill, South Shields, became irate when she claimed her cash had got stuck in the device at 10.30am on Saturday, July 13.
When her concerns allegedly went unheeded with the manager, she pushed him and told another staff member: “Get your hands off me or I’m going to stick the nut on you.”
She immediately apologised and was ushered outside but police were called, and she was arrested.
Prosecutor John Garside told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “It was 10.30am when the defendant was at the Dunes amusement arcade.
“There was a disagreement because a £20 note had got stuck in a machine. When she remonstrated with staff, she pushed a male member of staff.
“To the female member of staff, she said words like, ‘Get your hands off me or I’m going to stick the nut on you’. There were no injuries to either member of staff."
Clark pleaded guilty to charges of assault by beating against the manager and common assault – which was verbal and not physical - against the assistant.
Tim Gregory, defending, said: “She is sorry for her poor behaviour. She works in a sweet shop nearby and went to the arcade that day.
“Her £20 got stuck. The manager came over and wasn’t very pleasant to her. She did push the manager away quite forcefully.
“She accepts that she said what she said in the heat of the moment.
“CCTV does show that, in the background, a technician, although she had been accused of lying, the £20 was found at the back.
“She was taken outside, and she apologised. The police arrived. It’s her first offence in eight years. She does struggle with confrontation.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield fined Clark £180 and ordered her to pay compensation of £100 to the manager and £50 to the assistant.
She told her: “I think it’s eight years since you’ve been to court. Make sure this is a one-off.”