A US influencer has admitted assaulting a woman at a London tube station during an altercation last year. Melissa Rein Lively, 40, founder of the 'anti-woke' America First Public Relations firm, accepted a conditional caution over the incident at Bond Street station in October.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard on Tuesday that Rein Lively pulled a woman's hair in a 'forceful manner'. As part of the caution, she admitted the conduct amounted to a criminal offence and agreed to pay £910 in compensation to the victim. A charge of assault by beating was subsequently withdrawn.
The court was told the compensation, due in July, has not yet been paid. Rein Lively did not attend the hearing. Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said the incident occurred on the evening of 11 October as two sisters walked towards the station with their children, one in a pushchair.
The sisters noticed Rein Lively and a man, later identified as German national Philipp Ostermann, ahead of them. 'It appeared to one of the sisters that Ms Lively may have been intoxicated,' Harris said. Rein Lively allegedly stumbled into the pushchair, prompting the woman pushing it to move back.
Rein Lively allegedly grabbed one of the sisters by the hair and tugged it. The woman pulled Rein Lively's hair in return in an attempt to make her let go. Ostermann, 37, pleaded not guilty to two racially aggravated public order offences and a further public order offence against two alleged victims. He was freed on unconditional bail and told to return to court in November for trial.
