An UK Airbnb host attacked her guest and threw her out of the rental property after mistakenly assuming she was a sex worker. "I know what you are," Lyndsey McCabe screamed at Jane Dillon while evicting her from the home, which she thought Dillon planned to use for prostitution. McCabe, a holistic therapist, then slapped and kicked Dillon, smashing her car windshield with a rock the frightened guest tried to escape, prosecutors told a British court.
Dillon, who runs a party planning business and works as a model and actress, had previously booked rooms through Airbnb without problems. That changed when Dillon booked McCabe's spare bedroom for one night on January 28, the prosecutor said. When Dillon arrived at the house in Dodleston, a village in northwest England, the two women had a conversation in the kitchen. McCabe asked her guest what she did for a living, and Dillon described her various jobs.
After heading into the spare bedroom, Dillon heard the house's front door slam. McCabe then barged into the room and asked why her guest was there, prosecutors told Chester magistrates' court. "The complainant said, 'What?' but the defendant repeated herself and shouted aggressively," said prosecutor Alan Currums. Dillon believed that the property owner had "misinterpreted her earlier description of her work, believing her to be a sex worker."
According to prosecutors, McCabe shouted at Dillon: "Get out of my house. Get hold of your stuff and get it all out of my house. I know what you are—you are a sex worker.'' The host slapped Dillon's hands three times while shouting at her guest. Dillon called police while McCabe continued to slap her arms and kick her legs, knocking her suitcase down the stairs, where it burst open. "You do not know who you are dealing with," McCabe shouted as Dillon tried to pick up her belongings, prosecutors said.
As Dillon ran to her car, McCabe picked up a rock and threw it at the windshield, shattering it, before adopting a "fighting stance," the prosecutor said. Police arrived shortly after, and McCabe was arrested. Dillon had to take two weeks off work because of stress and suffered minor injuries, including a scratch to the hand, the court was told. She also experienced flashbacks in which she heard a door being slammed, footsteps, and pictured McCabe assaulting her, the prosecutor said. "I would suggest that the complainant has suffered no more than minor physical harm," said McCabe's lawyer.
Ultimately, McCabe pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage and was ordered to complete 12 months of community service, the UK Times reported. She was ordered to pay Dillon $417 in damages and $205 for "psychological and physical distress." McCabe's lawyer said she now attends counseling to address past trauma and "realized that it was not acceptable behavior." The property is no longer on Airbnb.
