A beautician proudly told friends that she had helped make her sister ‘wedding ready’ just days after they both attacked a frail seamstress and her husband in a row over her bridal gown, a court heard.

Siblings Julia and Jessica Shelley held hands in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, January 12, as they were sentenced over an incident which saw them ‘tussling’ with an elderly couple over a wedding dress.

One of the pensioners, who was ‘vulnerable through a disability’ was left with permanent scars after bride-to-be Julia Shelley and her younger sibling Jessica confronted the husband and wife at their own home.

The 79-year-old ‘family friend’ had been tasked with making alterations to Julia Shelley’s wedding dress, however, Julia was apparently displeased with the state of the needlework which resulted in the nasty altercation.

The bizarre incident also saw the pair steal a bag of cloth from their victims. 

Siblings Julia (Left) and Jessica Shelley (Right) held hands in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, January 12, as they were sentenced over the incident

Bride-to-be Julia (Pictured) was apparently displeased with the state of the needlework which resulted in the nasty altercation

Jessica, who works as a hair and make-up artist, took to Facebook on August 19 to share how she helped her sister Julia ‘wedding ready’. The post said: ‘I’m always honoured to help my clients get ready for their big day.’

The post was shared just days after the incident involving the wedding dress scrap on August 10, which left Robert Webb in hospital with ‘appalling injuries’.

Sharing photos from her sister’s wedding in a separate post on January 13 2023, Jessica said: ‘Helping my big sister @shuliajelly get wedding day ready was the highlight of my 2022! 

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday how Julia and Jessica Shelley attended the home of Maureen and Robert Webb on Pilling Lane in Lydiate at around 2pm on August 10 2022. 

Sarah Griffin, prosecuting, described how they both went upstairs to Ms Webb’s sewing room, from which she ran her seamstress business.

However, it was said that Julia was unhappy with the state of the needlework, and a ‘struggle’ ensued in which both the fiancée and the dressmaker took hold of a bag of materials. Jessica Shelley, 33, then grabbed both women.

Meanwhile, Mr Webb, who was said to be ‘vulnerable through a disability’, entered the room after hearing the ‘commotion’ and witnessed his partner falling to the floor before fleeing with the bag. 

She was then pursued by 38-year-old Julia Shelley, but the husband intervened by taking hold of her wrist.

The defendant reacted by ‘twisting free from his grip’, causing the OAP to fall and hit his arm – scraping his skin away. She then snatched the bag of cloth from Mrs Webb, and both sisters left leaving the older couple in pain and discomfort. 

Mr Webb was taken to hospital, where doctors initially feared that he may require a skin graft – although this surgery was not ultimately required. The couple then subsequently called the police to report the incident.

Officers then attended Julia Shelley’s home in Childwall, and were told by her partner that she was ‘out for dinner’. 

She later arrived at the address with her sister shortly before 9pm, and both were arrested.

Under interview, Julia Shelley denied any assault and said she ‘knew Mr Webb was frail and on dialysis’. While she accepted taking the materials, she claimed they had been ‘provided free of charge’.

When quizzed by detectives, Jessica Shelley ‘accepted grabbing Maureen’s wrists’. However, she stated that she had ‘done so to stop the matter escalating’.

In a statement which was read to the court on her behalf, Ms Webb said she was left with pain in her hand which had a ‘major impact on her business’ – with these injuries meaning that her alterations were now ‘taking much longer’. 

She was also left suffering from nightmares and flashbacks in the aftermath and would ‘wake up shouting in the night’.

Her statement said: ‘I can’t believe this has happened to me. It was so unnecessary.’

Mr Webb’s arm was said to have not fully yet healed, with his wounds still bleeding on occasions. Mrs Webb described her concern that her husband could have been ‘seriously hurt or killed’.

She added: ‘I think about what would have happened if I had lost him. I don’t understand how they thought they could come into my home and do what they did, all for the sake of a piece of material.’

Both sisters have no previous convictions. Julia Shelley admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault and theft. 

She was handed an 18-month community order with 140 hours of unpaid work and told to pay £1,000 in compensation to Mr Webb plus £1,400 in court costs.

Jessica Shelley, of Windsor Villas in St Hellier, pleaded guilty to assault and was fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £135. 

Both sisters, who sat holding hands throughout the hearing, were also handed restraining orders banning them from contacting Mr and Mrs Webb for five years.

Both sisters, who sat holding hands throughout the hearing at Liverpool Crown Court (Pictured), were also handed restraining orders banning them from contacting Mr and Mrs Webb for five years

Sentencing, Judge David Potter said: ‘You both have no previous convictions. More than that, I have read glowing testimonials of your general character.

‘In the words of Maureen Webb herself, this should never have happened. It was all so unnecessary.

‘As a result, you have each lost your hitherto good character. I have no doubt that you are both thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed by your conduct on that day.

‘It was, I am entirely satisfied, wholly out of character and I accept your sincere apologies. I am satisfied that you have shown appropriate remorse.

‘I have no doubt that the run-up to a wedding is a stressful experience, particularly over a dress that was yet to be completed. 

‘I can only imagine that was what motivated you when you attended Mrs Webb’s home. ‘You frankly lost your temper in a violent way. There was a tussle over, of all things, a bag of material.

‘As you well know Julia, Mr Webb is a man who has vulnerabilities and is not in the best of health. 

‘Your reckless actions caused him to fall, which shredded his arm – causing appalling injuries in the form of huge scrapes of skin being debrided from his arm.

‘It was through luck rather than judgment that he was not more seriously injured.

‘One can only imagine what his health would have been had he had to undergo surgery.

‘He has been left with permanent scarring to his arm, and it has not fully healed. No doubt to both Mr and Mrs Webb, this was a frightening incident in their own home, a place they should have both felt secure in.’