The two women filmed brawling on a doorstep are ‘close friends’ who fell out after an all-day Bank Holiday drinking marathon, MailOnline can exclusively reveal today.
The youngest of the two County Durham cat fighters is Lyndsey Stewart, 27, while her opponent is Joanne Heckles, 41, who is a grandmother nicknamed Black Juicy.
Extraordinary footage of Stewart and Heckles exchanging blows in the town of Shildon has been viewed more than 1.5million times since it was put on YouTube.
The youngest of the two fighters is tattooed mother-of-two Lyndsey Stewart (left), 27, while her opponent is Joanne Heckles (right), 41, who is nicknamed locally as ‘Black Juicy’
Lyndsey shoves Black Juicy through the door only for her to retaliate immediately by hurling a mug full of tea into the aggressor’s forehead
Stewart is shown flashing her bottom before pushing her foe through her front door before Heckles slams her mug of tea into her forehead and they then throw punches.
The older brawler is pushed over a wall after grabbing Stewart’s blonde pigtails and then has a bin lid hurled in her direction, narrowly missing her face after she
But despite the violence, friends told MailOnline they are close, have never come to blows before and blame a day of drinking in the sun over the bank holiday weekend.
One friend said mother-of-two Stewart and Heckles had shared a bottle of Jim Beam whisky at a neighbour’s house and are ‘both pretty embarrassed’ about the fight.
John Canty, who filmed the brawl for his YouTube channel Cantys Late Night Show, said Heckles – known locally as ‘Black Juicy’ – was arrested for breach of the peace.
She was later released and no further action taken. One neighbour said: ‘Juicy woke up in a police cell feeling ropey but no further action was taken’.
Black Juicy starts to pick herself up and Lyndsey screams ‘Go on!’. The grandmother and mother of four retaliates back saying ‘you stupid little slag’ as she lifts up her trousers
The pair walk out menacingly onto the street to continue their outrageous brawl. Lyndsey grabs the lid off a council bin and flings it at Black Juicy, narrowly missing her face
Today the pair have been keeping a low profile since the incident over Bank Holiday weekend with both women refusing to answer the door of their homes.
Lyndsey and her rival are keeping a low profile in their County Durham town
But the front window of the home in the film had been smashed in with grey sticking tape plastered across the shattered glass to keep it in place.
Half a mile away at Stewart’s home the living room window had also been smashed in with a piece of cardbord covering up the damage.
The white front door also showed signs of having been kicked in with a PVC panel badly damaged.
Neighbours of both women described them as ‘trouble’ and their their physical fight has earned more notoriety locally.
Both exploded with rage on Sunday afternoon all after one calls the other ‘a slut’ and within seconds they throwing council bins and mugs of tea at each other.
The altercation has been viewed over 1.5 million times in the last 24 hours after it was published on social media.
The incident took place on Albion Avenue in the former mining community of Shildon, County Durham on Sunday afternoon.
The average home value on the road is £59,000 for a three-bedroom terraced house but many go for as little as £45,000 or £300-a-week rent.
Shildon with 10,000 residents is 30 miles from Newcastle and 23 miles from Sunderland and also home to the National Railway Museum.
Neighbours of both women described them as ‘trouble’ and said they were even worse after spending the day drinking.
Stewart appeared to win the brawl in the end despite being smacked in the head with a mug of tea and she has been described as ‘trouble’
Friends said the Stewart, who has a gun tattooed on her right thigh, has never worked and lives on benefits
Mum of two Stewart lives a mile away from Heckles on the outskirts of Shildon, one of the poorest towns in County Durham where the busiest shop on the High Steet is the local food bank
Her partner is Christopher Duce, a known local tearway who has made numerous court appearances for violence and theft.
Stewart dotes on her two children, one year old Ruby and three year old Tyler-James.
Friends said the Stewart, who has a gun tattooed on her right thigh, has never worked and lives on benefits.
One neighbour said: ‘She obviously loves her kids, but when she has had a drink she gets very loud and aggressive and it all kicks off.
‘Everyone round here is talking about the video and she has kept her head down because of the embarassment.
‘She has been in a few scrapes in the past, but with young kids she has clamed down a lot.’
Heckles, whose eldest child is aged 15, has not long lived in Albion Road.
But according to neighbours she has had an impact and compared by some to White Dee from the controversial TV show ‘Benefits Street’.
Not a single person in the 28 terraced homes that make up Albion Avenue would give their names when talking about the woman who revels in the nickname ‘Black Juicy.’
‘The police are no strangers to the street and there is always something going on there,’ said a neighbour.
‘No one will say anything against her as they do not want to cross her.’
Heckles, whose eldest child is aged 15, has not long lived in Albion Road and is compared by some neighbours to White Dee from the controversial TV show ‘Benefits Street’
Joanne Heckles house in Shildon, County Durham where she was seen fighting outside, appears to have had a window smashed since the brawl
Lyndsey Stewart house also appears to have a damaged window – but it is not clear when it happened
It appears Stewart and Heckles had been drinking heavily prior to the fight that saw the two women hurl abuse at each other, launch punches,throw a mug of tea and even the top of a rubbish bin at each other.
One neighbour said: ‘The fight broke out over a bloke – he’s called Jim Beam.
‘They were sharing a bottle of that brand of whisky at Juicy’s neighbour’s and things got way out of hand.
‘They’re both pretty embarrassed about what went on.’
Joanne Heckles, 41, was born into a ‘good, decent, working class family.’
Her father, a coal miner, was originally from Peterlee, County Durham, and moved to his wife’s home village of Byers Green, where Joanne was raised.
A former neighbour said: ‘They were a lovely family, nice, decent people but unfortunately both died young and that meant Joanne lost her parents early.
‘That was a sad thing to happen to her but if they could see what she’d become they’d be appalled, the behaviour she’s shown these last few years isn’t the way she was brought up, that’s for certain.’
Joanne has four children, some of whom have children of their own. Her sister Tracey lives in the south of England and ‘isn’t a bit like Joanne.’
Three of her four children are to Benny Stafford, who still lives in Byers Green with his new partner.
The women get into a physical fight after one calls the other ‘a slut’ – ending in them throwing council bins and mugs of tea at each other
The woman in the pink top then approaches that lady in blue, known as ‘Black Juicy’ in Shildon, who is seen holding a cup of tea
The two women then return to physically fighting each other again and slap each other in the face
The unintentionally hilarious altercation has been viewed over 1.5 million times in the last 24 hours after it was published on social media
The two women grapple with one another in Black Juice’s front garden before the altercation spills out onto the street
Neighbours say the house is a magnet for youths and disorderly behaviour, also claiming Mr Stafford has been living without power after fuel companies disconnected his meters.
Mum of two Stewart lives a mile away from Heckles on the outskirts of Shildon, one of the poorest towns in County Durham
There was no answer at the house yesterday.
One Byers Green resident said: ‘She always had a mouth on her. There were constant fights with Benny, screaming, shouting, bad language.
‘People thought things might improve when she moved away to Shildon but things at the house have stayed pretty much the same.’
After splitting with Benny she began a relationship with Jason Cason, a burglar, who died in tragic circumstances in 2016 aged 43.
Mr Cason was found dead in his home in Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, whilst still in a relationship with Ms Heckles.
The previous year he admitted a burglary in a shop in South Shields in which he was found to have stolen 15 mobile phones.
The court heard that Mr Cason looted the premises having been tipped off that it was insecure following a previous burglary through a skylight a short while earlier.
Miss Heckles then moved to Shildon and is now believed to be in a relationship with painter Chris Hutton, who is younger than her.
Se announced their relationship on Facebook in mid March and Mr Hutton has been staying at the house in Albion Avenue, angrily fending off enquiries about his partner’s behaviour last Sunday.
Lyndsey falls dramatically onto the street and as she does this, Black Juicy briefly forgets about her and starts shouting at a neighbour saying ‘I’m sick of you!’
Lyndsey exploits this momentary distraction and pushes Black Juicy so she falls face first onto the ground
At the end of the hilarious video, Lyndsey gets the last laugh and retorts to Black Juicy ‘F**k off, don’t call me a slut!’
Canty has posted numerous videos featuring local characters from Shildon on his You Tube channel called County Durham’s Finest.
Black Juicy has featured in previous videos but is a recent transplant from Byers Green, about six miles away.
Canty is well known in Albion Avenue as his grandfather lives in the street which local estate agents said had been one of the finest in Shildon until recent years.
An influx of tennants on benefits had led to a rapid deterioration in the upkeep of homes and unsociable behaviour.
‘Until a few years ago Albion Avenue was one of the nicest roads in the town,’ said an estate agent who grew up in Shildon.
‘When the old folk who lived in the homes died or moved away the houses were bought up by property investors who just rented them back out to the council.
‘It is no exaggeration to say that those who can move have done so, and people the council have had trouble placing in homes are moved in.’
The large glass windows of a local letting agency tells the story of how many homes in Shildon are up for rent with the average price £400 a month.
Terraced homes such as those in Albion Avenue are up for sale at £35,000. A three bedroomed property goes for £45,000.
The ‘Black Juicy v Lizzie’ video is the talk of Shildon and many store owners are angry that it might give the wrong impression about the town which celebrates its most famous son pioneering railway engineer Timothy Hackworth with a statue in the centre.
Stewart is said to be embarrassed about the brawl and friends say she is a great mother to her two children
While Albion Avenue has some homes that e,are need in improveent most of the terraced homes are well maintained with neat front gardens and trimmed lawns.
Those closest to where Black Juicy live in the centre of the street are not in such good condition with front gardens overgrown with weeds.
Empty polystyrene take away boxes litter one of the homes while the pathway of another is covered with cigarette ends.
‘The best time in this road is during the morning as those who cause trouble are sleeping off the night before,’ said one neighbour who asked not to be named.
‘We all know who causes the trouble and keep out of their way. As long as you mind your own business it is ok.’
Canon David Tomlinson, vicar of St John’s Church in Shildon, said the brawling women were not representative of the town.
He said ‘Like any town Shildon has a section of it population who struggle with life.
‘I think the videos by Mr Canty represent those type of people but I would not want people to think that is what Shildon is like.
‘We have a very strong and proud community but liike other towns it has has seen a decline in its fortunes.’
Shildon ranks in the lowest five per cent of the UK for wealth with Cannon Tomlinson saying 10 per cent of the population relied on food banks last year.
He agreed there were few jobs, but said there was a strong sense of community with dozens of volunteers helping out with church activities. The average attendance at his Sunday service was 120 people
Cannon Tomlinson said the sort of brawling in the video was partly due to the anger felt by many people in the town who voted for Brexit and were one of only 9 constituencies to have a BNP candidate stand in the last election.
‘There is a lot of anger in the town and a lot of anger with people who are unhappy with how things have progressed. That anger manifests itself and is often leads to what we have seen on the video,’ he said.
According to latest crime figures from Durham Constabulary violence and sexual offences are the most prevalent in Shildon which according to the last census had a population of just under 10,000 people .
In March there were 41 reported sex and violence offences for Shildon with public order offences – like those witnessed on the video – second most prevalent at 24.
The town has a police station but locals say it is not always manned and Durham Constabulary operate a ‘hub and spoke’ system with the main offices at Newton Aycliffe.
Shildon no longer has a bank with the HSBC branch closing down last year and although there are two Post Offices one has closed with no re-opening date.
Along Shildon’s High Street a Costa Coffee shop is a focal point since opening three years ago.
Canon Tomlinson said a problem for the town had been the number of cannabis factories being operated from empty terraced home.
He said one a month were being closed down.
‘The trouble is most of the landlords are absentee and homes can be rented for as little as £300 a month. Cannabis factories are a problem and the police close them down as soon as the hear about them.’
Local estate agents said investors from the south of England were snapping up empty two and three bedroom homes for as little as £45,000.
The agent said:’ One of the reasons the properties become run down is because the landlords never visit and never put any money into the homes.”