An Airbnb host has been ordered to pay almost $1000 in compensation to a guest she assaulted because she thought she was a sex worker.
Lyndsey McCabe, a therapist from the UK, slapped model Jane Dillon and demanded she get out of her house after wrongly accusing her of being a sex worker.
“Get out of my house. Get hold of your stuff and get it all out of my house. I know what you are, you are a sex worker.”
The 46-year-old then kicked Ms Dillon in the legs causing her suitcase to tumble down the stairs and burst open.
Ms Dillon then fled to her car and McCabe threw a large stone, shattering the windscreen.
The model, who had booked McCabe’s spare room for a night in January, told police she found the incident “traumatising”.
Before the outburst, Ms Dillon reportedly arrived at the house and was shown her room with no issues.
She was asked what she did for work and said she had a party business, and did acting and modelling.
“She believes the defendant may have misinterpreted her, thinking that she was maybe a sex worker. Following this, the complainant took a glass and went up to the room where she was watching videos on the internet,” Alan Currums, prosecuting, said.
“She asked the defendant for a heater for the room, and the defendant replied ‘You can borrow my heater’ and a short time later the heater was delivered and the defendant left again.”
But she came back after Ms Dillon heard slamming of the front door, asking her guest what she was doing in there.
“The defendant slapped the complainant’s hands about three times while the complainant was holding her phone in her hand. The defendant started shouting, “Get out of my house. Get hold of your stuff and get it all out of my house. I know what you are, you are a sex worker”.
McCabe’s tirade was said to last about 15 minutes before police arrived and arrested her.
In an English court, McCabe was ordered to pay £335 ($640) compensation to Ms Dillon for the damage caused and £165 ($315) for “psychological and physical distress”.
She was also given a 12-month community order where she must do 20 rehabilitation activity days and 150 hours of unpaid work.
The woman is a practitioner in holistic therapies including reflexology, aromatherapy and massages.