LONDON -- In what is proving to be a slightly complicated story, former meerkat-keeper Caroline Westlake has been sentenced for assaulting monkey-keeper Kate Sanders over her relationship with llama-keeper Adam Davies.
Westlake hit Sanders in the face with a wine glass last December, and has been ordered to pay her £800 in compensation. She'll also have to serve 12 months of community service.
The three keepers all worked together at London Zoo, and the assault took place at the Christmas zoo party last year. Davies had previously dated Sanders for five years before he began dating Westlake; according to The Guardian, the party was the first time Sanders had seen her colleagues together as a couple.
The two began arguing after Sanders said something about Westlake's appearance; things escalated and Westlake ended up using a nearby wine glass as a weapon, which led to Sanders being taken to hospital and given stitches.
"It’s an unpleasant injury to someone’s face which makes it rather worse," said Judge Jeremy Coleman. "It was caused by a glass so an object was used, so really a more serious charge against you could easily have been justified."
Westlake has lost her job at London Zoo as a result of the incident, while Sanders has been given a two-year ban from Zoological Society of London events.