Mary Zurinskas made a comment to Alex Pickering about him “hitting a lady” and suggested he tried to pick on her.

During the violent incident on June 28th, Zurinskas had a kitchen knife with a 3 inch blade tucked into the waistband of her trousers, Livingston Sheriff Court was told.

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Livingston Sheriff Court.

She admitted assault and possessing a knife in a public place but her denials that she brandished the weapon at Mr Pickering and repeatedly attempted to stab him with it were accepted by the prosecution.

Zurinskas, 47, a prisoner at Edinburgh, admitted she had disposed of the knife before police arrived at the scene in the centre of Bathgate.

'Unacceptable Behaviour'

Defence lawyer, Iain Smith, said his client, who had an extensive criminal record, suffered from “a cocktail of difficulties” including ADHD, autism, mental health problems and a personality disorder.

He said: “The complainer describes her as being incoherent because it appeared she was under the influence at that time.

“She had seen the complainer do something to his girlfriend and words had been exchanged. She broke off but came back and pushed him against a wall and assaulted him.

“At least one witness saw she had a knife in the waistband of her trousers. She discarded it behind a wall at Bathgate cinema.

“Although she had that in her possession during the assault it was not used, but this was unacceptable behaviour.

“She’s lucid when she’s not abusing substances. She’s not a stupid person.”

Sheriff Peter Hammond sentenced Zurinskas to ten months in prison. He backdated the sentence to 2 July when she was first remanded in custody on the charges.

He told her: “You have a bad record for various matters of disorder and violence and you are well aware of the consequences of a conviction for assault. Further, at the time you were in possession of a knife.