A sex worker who bit a woman in the face at her own mother's wake has been spared jail. Tyler Walker slapped a woman and lunged at her to bite her face after an argument broke out following the funeral.
The 24-year-old and her brother were arguing when the victim, her godmother's daughter, stepped in but was bitten in the cheek after the two had exchanged words in the toilet of a social club in Marton Road, Middlesbrough, reports TeessideLive.
Walker misunderstood the woman's attempt to calm her down as taking her brother's side and stormed out of the toilets, shouting at the victim. The assault then occurred outside the club.
Lynne Dalton, prosecuting, said the victim followed Walker outside before she slapped her across the face. She added: "She was shocked and told her her 'mother would be disgusted'.
"She turned around to pick up her glasses which had been knocked off her face. When she got up the defendant grabbed her face and bit her left cheek."
The bite left blood, with the woman affected requiring a hepatitis B injection following the attack, which also saw Walker headbutt her, Teesside Magistrates Court heard.
She admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm following the attack on October 18, 2021. In a victim impact statement the woman said: "This incident has left me feeling heartbroken and disgusted that a close family friend has cause me serious injury."
Walker who worked as a sex worker was handed a 16 month jail sentence suspended for two years after admitting to causing or inciting prostitution for gain. A court in Newcastle heard how a teenager was pushed in to sex work after falling in to Walker's debt.
That victim did not know she was a sex worker and was forced to 'prostitute herself' to pay off the money. The woman ended up sleeping with more than 30 men in two weeks for the money, say ChronicleLive.
Paul Haswell, mitigating on the incident at the wake, said: "CCTV shows a disagreement outside Miss Walker walks away and backs off from the injured party. But she goes forward to speak to her again."
Walker was said to have had "temporarily lost control" in a "very emotionally-charged" time. She had reached out via a third party to apologise for the attack, Mr Haswell claimed.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as Walker stood to be sentenced at Teesside Magistrates Court. District Judge Stephen told her that the offence crossed the custody threshold as Walker let out a sigh of relief as the sentence was suspended.
She was handed a 18-week sentence suspended for 18 months. She must also carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £400 in compensation. The court heard Walker is currently unemployed and will pay back £20 a month.
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