Social inquiry report ordered on woman who assaulted another

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A Southampton mother assaulted a woman outside a nursery school after she repeatedly criticised the way she raised her son.

Kahla Saltus, 31, admitted striking Verlicher Glasgow outside Building Blocks Academy on July 17.

The court heard Saltus was walking with her son and talking on her cell phone when Mrs Glasgow saw a car reversing towards the child.

Mrs Glasgow pulled the child out of the way and yelled at Saltus to pay better attention.

Saltus shouted back and the argument escalated and then turned physical.

Saltus struck Mrs Glasgow with her hand while holding her cell phone; Mrs Glasgow said she was struck repeatedly on the side of her head until members of the public pulled the two apart.

Saltus then crossed the street and got on a bus. Mrs Glasgow said she was shocked and stunned by the attack.

Saltus’ lawyer, Michaela Clamens, said the complainant had accused her client of being a negligent mother.

Under cross-examination, Mrs Glasgow admitted talking to Saltus’ sister at Ice Queen a month before the incident, criticising the defendant’s parenting abilities.

Mrs Glasgow said she had been providing Saltus’ son with lunch at school and was concerned about how he was being raised, but did not consider the manner in which her message would be delivered.

She admitted that on the day of the attack she told Saltus that she was the “hand that fed” her son, but could not recall if she said it before or after the fight turned physical.

Delivering his judgement yesterday, magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said that because both the defence and the prosecution acknowledged that Saltus struck Mrs Glasgow, the only remaining question was if the attack had been provoked.

He said that Mrs Glasgow had made aggressive, scolding comments to and about Saltus prior to the attack, and the nature of the comments was enough to cause a person to deprive a person of self-control.

However, he said that based on the injuries suffered, the violence of the attack was excessive compared to the provocation and not excused in the law.

Mr Tokunbo found Saltus guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm, and ordered that a social inquiry report be carried out before sentencing.

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