A WOMAN has denied carrying out a violent Carlisle attack, telling a jury she was “at home in bed” at the time.
Georgia Gray, 22, denies one charge alleging she assaulted Abby Tolson, causing her actual bodily harm.
That allegation arises out of an incident outside the Griffin pub, Court Square, at around 4-45am on December 16 last year.
Miss Tolson was on a Christmas night out, and suffered injuries when she was grabbed by the hair and kicked to the face. She has told a Carlisle Crown Court jury that Gray was responsible.
But giving evidence this afternoon (THURS) during her trial, Gray insisted she was not.
Gray, of Spencer Street, Carlisle, spoke of being involved in a short-lived relationship with a man which lasted just weeks. Midway through, she said she was told that man had a girlfriend – Miss Tolson.
Although Gray said she “wasn’t bothered”, she sent a Facebook message to Miss Tolson. This stated she “wanted to say sorry”, “never intentionally tried to upset you and had no idea, so sorry”.
“Because I was seeing him, I felt bad for her,” Gray told jurors, “because she had a boyfriend and I slept with him. That’s going to get anybody’s back up.”
Asked where she was at the time Miss Tolson was attacked, Gray said she was “at home in bed”, adding that her sister was also at the address.
“I did not assault Abby Tolson,” Gray told jurors, speaking of mental health difficulties which meant “I didn’t leave the house much”. “I wasn’t well,” she added.
Gray agreed she didn’t request a solicitor for a police interview during which she made no comment, saying: “I knew I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t need it.”
She denied wearing sportswear on any nights out, responding to Miss Tolson’s claim that she was wearing such clothing at the attack scene on the night.
Asked if she harboured “bad feeling” towards Miss Tolson, Gray replied: “She had never done anything for me to have a bad feeling about. I was in the wrong for what happened.”
Asked whether she thought Miss Tolson had made up the allegation as a “vendetta”, Gray responded: “There is no other explanation for why she would accuse me of that. It’s bizarre.”
When Miss Tolson was asked earlier in court if she was “lying” and blaming Gray out of “vengeance” because she hadn’t actually known who attacked her, she replied: “No.” When it was suggested the attacker wasn’t actually Gray, Miss Tolson stated: “I am certain that it was.”
The trial continues.
