Kendal woman attacked woman she wrongly believed had hidden 'her cat'

Thirty-four-year-old Linda Fjodorova, who appeared at a court hearing clutching a picture of a cat, carried out the attack after walking uninvited into the home of the woman she wrongly accused of hiding the feline, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of actual bodily harm assault.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke described how the victim, a woman in her 50s, was leaving her home in Kendal at around 6.30pm on October 9, 2022 when Fjodorova approached and simply walked into the woman’s house.

The defendant then sat down and began asking the woman about the whereabouts of a cat which the woman was helping to care for.

“The defendant thought the cat was hers,” said Mr Burke.

“But it had moved out and as far as the victim was concerned it was living feral in a bush nearby.” But the defendant was preoccupied with the cat.

The defendant believed her neighbour was hiding the cat inside her flat but Fjodorova refused to accept the victim’s explanation, it was said.

“The defendant insisted that the cat was somewhere inside the victim’s house. Miss Fjodorova then pushed [the victim] so that her head and body banged on the floor and pinned the victim’s arms down," said Mr Burke.

“At that point, [the woman] offered to show her where the cat was, telling her it was living outside.

“Again, the defendant would not countenance that and said it was in the house. She then began physically punching her to the head and face and shouting that she was going to kill the victim.”

The court was told when the victim struggled to her feet, Fjodorova pulled her back down by her coat, pulling her hood over her head, making it difficult for the woman to breathe. Before leaving, she emptied the victim’s backpack, taking her keys, the court was told.

She then poured a small carton of blackcurrant juice over the woman’s face, it was heard. When the defendant left, she also took the victim’s laptop and iPad.

All the items she took were later found at the defendant’s home.

Describing the impact on the victim, Mr Burke said she had been terrified – so much so that three days  after the attack she remained afraid to return to her home and stayed with her  parents.

She suffered cuts to her face and bruising to both eyes. Being thrown to the floor so violently had also left her with a whiplash type injury, the court heard. Fjodorova has 13 previous offences on her record including police assault, drink driving and battery.

The prosecutor offered no evidence on allegations of theft and suffocation.

Charles Brown, for Fjodorova, accepted the defendant had no foundation for her belief that the victim was deliberately concealing the cat. “She is fully aware that she should not have attacked her,” said the barrister.

“The offence arose out of her attachment to her cat.”

Her belief that the cat was being hidden was not an excuse for the violence, conceded Mr Brown.

The defendant, who is 30 weeks pregnant and now lives at Kirkland, Kendal, had moved away from the area where the victim lives. Recorder Julian Shaw described her offence as “a pretty nasty assault.”

He told the defendant, who is due to give birth to her second child: “You attacked this woman, and in your own mind, you seemed to believe you had reason to do so but there is no objective evidence at all to suggest that whatever you thought was the position entitled you to challenge, much less assault [the victim] as you did.

“You pushed her to the floor, pinned down her arms, grabbed her backpack, banged her head on the floor, and pulled her clothes over her head to constrict her breathing.”

The offence crossed the custody threshold, said the Recorder, noting that there was an element of "gratuitous degradation" of the victim in the violence.

The judge imposed 15 months jail, suspended for two years.

The sentence includes 10 rehabilitation activity days, a mental health treatment requirement, and a three month 8pm to 7am curfew. Recorder Shaw imposed a five-year restraining order banning any contact with the victim.