London Zoo Employee Ordered To Compensate Monkey Handler Who Was Attacked With Wine Glass

Caroline Westlake, a former meerkat expert at the London Zoo, has been ordered to pay 800 pounds (approximately $1,238 USD) to Kate Sanders, a monkey handler, after an argument between the two women turned primal. Westlake will also need to complete a 12-month community service order and pay additional prosecution fees.

Westlake — who fought with Sanders over colleague Adam Davies, a llama-keeper whom both women once dated — attacked Sanders with a wine glass during a zoo Christmas party last December, reports The Associated Press.

According to Judge Jeremy Coleman of the Westminster Magistrates' Court, Sanders suffered a "nasty" face injury during the fight. "I have to see that scar every day when I look in the mirror," Sanders said.

Westlake, meanwhile, maintained in court that Sanders punched her first, and that she did not recall hitting Sanders with the wine glass. Westlake, who was dating Davies at the time, blamed her actions on dyspraxia [a disorder affecting motor coordination] and ADHD," according to the Telegraph.

Westlake was fired by the London Zoo shortly after the incident.