Girls' night out on the town ends in violence

8:59am Wednesday 13th June 2001

Two women attacked a female cloakroom attendant at Cinatra's night club after they had lost their coat tickets.

Melanie Birch, 26, from Ewell, and Charlotte Littlefield, 26, from Wimbledon, were convicted last week

of assaulting Marion Williams, causing actual bodily harm, at the night club on London Road, West Croydon, on the night of Friday, March 31, 2000.

Ms Williams suffered bruising and had a clump of her hair pulled out, which was shown off at Croydon Crown Court by the prosecution.

Birch, who is of mixed race, was cleared of a further charge of racially motivated assault.

Birch and Littlefield were at Cinatra's celebrating

Littlefield's boyfriend's birthday, when Birch lost her handbag containing four cloakroom tickets.

They approached Ms Williams, a Ghanaian, who refused to hand over the coats and told them to wait until the night ended.

During this exchange Birch was alleged to have called Ms Williams “an African monkey”, a charge she denied.

An argument followed and both women climbed into

the cloakroom, where a fight ensued.

Outside the night club, Birch telephoned the police and claimed she had been assaulted.

After being convicted, Charlotte Littlefield told the Guardian: “I am quite disgusted. I thought that anyone with common sense would find us not guilty. After all, we phoned the police.”

Both defendants will appear at Croydon Crown Court on July 13, for sentencing.

Editor's Choice