Attacker puts woman in hospital over DIY noise row

A MOTHER has told how she was hospitalised after rowing with neighbours over DIY noise.
Kelly White was left with two black eyes and concussion. Picture: Scott LoudenKelly White was left with two black eyes and concussion. Picture: Scott Louden
Kelly White was left with two black eyes and concussion. Picture: Scott Louden

Kelly White, 34, was left with two black eyes and concussion after being brutally attacked in her stairwell as she left to attend her son’s birthday celebrations.

The mother-of-two had been locked in a long-running feud with neighbours Terry Paul, 55, and Suzanne Adamson, 48, over noise arising from her flat refurbishment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But the row turned violent in July last year when the pair beat her to the ground outside her home in West Drylaw Drive.

Terry Paul and Suzanne AdamsonTerry Paul and Suzanne Adamson
Terry Paul and Suzanne Adamson

Ms White spent two days in hospital recovering from her injuries and says she now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

“The worst thing is what they have done to my mind,” she said. “My confidence is gone. I used to be a fitness instructor, but because of this I’m terrified.”

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how couple Paul and Adamson confronted Ms White in a stairwell as she went to collect cigarettes for her ex-husband who was waiting in a car outside with their two children.

The family had been preparing to drive to Cramond for a barbecue to mark their son’s birthday.

But when Ms White entered the stairwell of the housing complex she faced a volley of abuse from her neighbours before Adamson punched her in the eye.

She was then repeatedly struck by the pair until she fell to the ground.

Ms White gave evidence from behind a screen because she was too fearful to face her attackers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And she broke down while giving her side of the incident as she was forced to relive her ordeal.

“Suzanne held me while Terry beat the life out of me,” she said. “I have got scars all over my body. I had two black eyes, delayed concussion, the injuries just go on and on.”

Adamson and Paul were convicted of assault, but sentence has been deferred for background reports.

Today, Ms White welcomed the guilty verdict, but said she had become a “shell” of her former self and was “living in fear” following the attack.

And she has been forced to quit her job as a freelance gym instructor at Edinburgh Leisure.

“I used to be a bubbly, happy-go-lucky person,” she said.

“But when this happened I thought I was going to die.

“I’m terrified of my own skin, and it’s because of these monsters.

“I can’t even go shopping, I’m too scared.

“I’m a shell of a woman.”

Ms White has since moved away from West Drylaw Drive and no longer lives next to her attackers.

She said: “I honestly thought they were going to get away with it.

“They are bullies. I just hope that now if they try to do this to anyone else, they will have the courage to do what I have done.”