LONDON (AP) — A former meerkat expert at London Zoo was cleared Tuesday of assaulting a monkey handler in a love spat over a llama-keeper. 
 
 Two High Court judges said Tuesday that Caroline Westlake had not "recklessly" injured Kate Sanders. 
 
 In October a lower court found Westlake, 30, guilty of assaulting Sanders, who suffered a cut cheek from a wineglass after the two women argued at a zoo Christmas party in 2014. Both had dated colleague Adam Davies. 
 
 Westlake had said she did not remember hitting her colleague with the glass. Westminster Magistrates' Court found she had struck Sanders "recklessly but not intentionally." 
 
 The High Court said Tuesday that magistrates had applied the wrong legal test for recklessness and quashed the conviction. 
 
 Westlake was fired by the zoo after the incident. Her lawyer, Suzanne Kelly, said Tuesday that "Ms. Westlake's life has been destroyed by something that was no more than an unfortunate accident." 
 
 "Justice has now been served and Ms. Westlake would now appreciate the opportunity to put this matter behind her and rebuild her life," Kelly said. 

 A meerkat expert accused of striking a monkey handler with a wine glass at a London zoo Christmas party has been cleared of assault by high court judges. 
 
 Caroline Westlake, 30, had previously been convicted of “recklessly but not intentionally” causing a 1cm wound – which needed three stitches – on the cheek of Kate Sanders after she criticised her looks. 
 
 Westminster magistrates court found Westlake guilty of assault by beating after hearing that the women had been romantically involved with zookeeper Adam Davies, who dated Sanders for five years before starting a relationship with Westlake. 
 
 But Lord Justice Laws and Justice Nicol ruled the magistrates applied the wrong legal test for recklessness and on Tuesday quashed the conviction. 
 
 Later, Westlake’s legal representative, Suzanne Kelly of Venters solicitors, said: “Ms Westlake’s life has been destroyed by something that was no more than an unfortunate accident. In particular Ms Westlake was unfairly dismissed from her position as zoo keeper at ZSL London zoo and has suffered significant psychological harm.” 
 
 The magistrates heard that Westlake was in a toilet cubicle at the party on 8 December 2014 when she overheard Sanders say to her friends she looked “much better than Caroline – have you seen the state of her”? 
 
 
 
 Later that evening the two women met at the cloakroom and Sanders tried to apologise. The pair started arguing and Sanders said: “Nobody likes you – everyone thinks you’re mad.” Westlake responded: “Everyone thinks the same about you.” 
 
 Sanders, who worked on the “mammals south” section of the zoo, said as she tried to leave Westlake smashed the glass into her cheek, leaving her face covered in blood. 
 
 
 
 Westlake accepted that the injury came from her glass, but denied causing it either deliberately or recklessly. 
 
 
 
 The magistrates ruled in September 2015 that Westlake did not act intentionally, but she was guilty of assault because she had been reckless and “failed to see the risk of injury” to Sanders while holding the glass close to her. 
 
 
 
 Quashing the conviction, Laws said the prosecution had failed to apply the correct “subjective” test for recklessness, which was “whether the defendant foresaw the risk of harm but went on to take it”. 
 
 
 
 The judge also ruled there should be not be a retrial because the magistrates had made a positive finding that Westlake “did not foresee a risk of injury” to Sanders. In those circumstances she was entitled to an acquittal. 
 
 
 
 In any event, said the judge, she had completed her sentence of 80 hours’ community service. 
 
 
 
 Kelly said on behalf of Westlake: “This has been a very traumatic time for Ms Westlake and her family, both during the events leading up to and following her wrongful conviction for assault by beating Ms Kate Sanders. 
 
 
 
 “Ms Westlake would like thank those that sent messages of support to her which have been a source of strength and encouragement for her, and also expresses her thanks to her excellent legal team for their diligence and perseverance in obtaining justice for her. 
 
 
 
 “Justice has now been served and Ms Westlake would now appreciate the opportunity to put this matter behind her and rebuild her life.” 
 

– Finally, legal closure in a tumultuous zookeeper love triangle across the pond—and perhaps the best lead-in sentence you'll read all week: "A former meerkat expert at London Zoo was cleared Tuesday of assaulting a monkey handler in a love spat over a llama-keeper" is how the AP describes the British High Court's reversal Tuesday of the conviction of Caroline Westlake (the meerkat expert), accused of assaulting Kate Sanders (the monkey handler) at a 2014 Christmas party. Both women had dated Adam Davies (the llama-keeper), and Westlake was said to have hit Sanders in the face with a wineglass after an argument. But while the lower court had found Westlake acted "recklessly but not intentionally" in injuring Sanders (the Guardian notes Sanders needed three stitches on her cheek to close up the wound), the High Court justices also took "recklessly" out of the equation, noting that the lower court had used an erroneous test for recklessness. A lawyer for Westlake, who was fired from the London Zoo after the incident, says, "Ms. Westlake's life has been destroyed by something that was no more than an unfortunate accident. Justice has now been served and Ms. Westlake would now appreciate the opportunity to put this matter behind her and rebuild her life." (In a Houston love triangle, a pregnant woman took on another pregnant woman.)