A London zoo love triangle between keepers of meerkats, monkeys and
llamas led to bloody fight at a Christmas party, a court has heard.
Caroline Westlake, who worked in the meerkat enclosure, was convicted on
Friday of assault by beating after glassing her colleague, Kate
Sanders, in the face.
Sanders, who cared for the attraction’s monkeys, and Westlake came to
blows in the zoo’s Prince Albert Suite after a row over llama-keeper
Adam Davies, who dated Sanders for five years but after they split
started a relationship with Westlake.
Sanders saw the couple together for the first time at the Christmas
party on 8 December and made a derisory comment about Westlake’s
appearance.
Her comments sparked an argument that ended with Sanders being struck in the face with a wine glass, for which she required stitches.
Westlake, from Banstead in Surrey, denied one count of assault by
beating but was found guilty at Westminster magistrates court. The
30-year-old, who worked at the zoo for four and a half years, was sacked
from her job looking after the meerkats and the rainforest zone.
Sanders, from north London, was given a final warning and banned from
Zoological Society of London events for two years as a result of the
fight.
Sanders earlier told the court of her shock when blood came pouring out
of her mouth during the fight. “Things were being said on both sides
that shouldn’t have been said,” she said.
“I told her I’d seen a text she sent him asking him out for a
drink
while we were still dating and the next thing I know I was hit in the
face with something very hard.
I was hit on the left cheek and from the feeling it was a glass and had
come from a low position. I was extremely shocked when it hit me. I
tried to protect myself by reaching out my right hand and pushing her
against the nearest thing to me, which was some railings.” Defense
solicitor Suzanne Kelly told Sanders it was she who instigated
the fight with Westlake by punching her in the face, lunging at her and
pushing her over nearby railings, which she denied.
Westlake is to be sentenced on 14 October.
