A Muslim woman who launched a drunken attack on a bowling alley manager has been spared having to wear a “sobriety” ankle tag after she claimed it would hinder her preparation for Friday prayers. Husina Hussain, 20, faced having to wear the device under a court order after she floored assistant manager Ami Singleton at Hollywood Bowl Manchester in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Hussain, who has no previous convictions and undiagnosed PTSD, also hurled racial abuse before lashing out and attacking police officers, calling them, “f*****g whites”.
The 20-year-old from Oldham, Greater Manchester, admitted assault by beating, assault by beating of an emergency worker and racially aggravated harassment at Tameside Magistrates’ Court.
Her lawyer, Seraj Khan, urged magistrates not to impose an alcohol abstinence order, claiming Hussain had stopped boozing and a tag would stop her from completing the ritual washing Muslims perform before prayer.
Prosecutor James Hudson told the court Ms Singleton overheard an “intoxicated” female using “loud foul language” on September 18, 2022.
Mr Hudson said the assistant manager asked the defendant to stop because the bowling alley is a family venue, but Hussain “refused to calm down and hit the complainant on the side of her face”.
He added: “A scuffle between the two then ensued. The defendant then took the complainant to the floor. The pair had to be broken up by other people in the bowling alley.
“The defendant then ran back over to the complainant and slapped her in the face. She also grabbed her hair and pulled it for a few seconds.”
The prosecutor said Hussain continued to be aggressive even once the police had arrived, refusing to calm down and trying to hit and kick Pc Hutchenson “a number of times”.
Mr Hudson said: “As she was being arrested, the defendant shouted ‘You f****** whites, go f*** yourself.’ She also said, ‘You stupid n***** motherf*****’ to Singleton.”
Ms Singleton said in a victim impact statement: “This has made me feel sad and angry. I have worked here my whole life and this is the first time this has happened. I have never felt like this.”
In mitigation, Mr Khan said his client had gone “cold turkey” and has stopped drinking since the attack.
He added: “There have also been no further incidents with the police. She has tried to turn her life around and this has all been done without support.
“She has undiagnosed PTSD, which was the reason why she was drinking in the first place. This comes from trauma she received as a child.”
Magistrate Ronald Marshall told Hussain: “Rehabilitation days will address the root cause of the main issue, alcohol. This was an isolated incident and you are of good character. This matter has been going on for some time now – put it behind you and move on.”
Hussain was sentenced to a nine-month community order and ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity days as part of that as well as being subject to a no alcohol monitoring programme.
Magistrates said the rehab days, which will involve a series of face-to-face counselling sessions, would be sufficient to address Hussain’s alcohol issues.
She was fined £200 and made to pay £85 costs on top of a £114 victim surcharge. She was made to pay £100 damages to Ms Singleton and a further £100 compensation to a Pc Hutchenson, who was assaulted during the incident.
Since March 2021, courts in England have been able to impose Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirements (AAMRs) if heavy drinking played a part in an offender’s crime.
AAMRs ban offenders from drinking alcohol for up to 120 days and offenders must also wear an alcohol monitoring tag as part of a community sentence.
The tag takes a sample of the wearer’s sweat every half an hour and provides a continuous record of whether the offender has been drinking.
If the tag detects alcohol or is tampered with, an alert is sent to the Probation Service which can bring the offender back to court for not complying.
