10:30am Wednesday 10th March 2010
A woman who smashed a glass on a man’s head in a fracas at a pub has received a suspended jail sentence.
Cheryl Watts was trying to split up a fight between two men in the Guildhall pub in Malmesbury when she used the glass as a weapon.
The 20-year-old had claimed that she cut victim Max Bailey by accident and was reckless when she assaulted him outside the bar on Oxford Street.
But after hearing evidence in a trial of issue before Christmas last year Judge Douglas Field rejected her claim.
Watts was outside when a number of fights were taking place and she intervened between two men.
As she stepped in she used the glass in her hand to strike one of the men, leaving him with a cut to the top of his head.
The judge sitting at Swindon Crown Court heard that one witness spoke of the defendant emptying the glass before using it on her victim.
Watts, formerly of Silverston Way, Malmesbury, but now living at Fairfield, Wootton Bassett, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.
Mike Pulsford, defending, said his client had been trying to stop the fight when she assaulted the man.
“Clearly she then lifts both arms up to try and support this man and the glass shatters against the head of the injured party,” she said.
“She sustained herself serious hand injuries as a result of this act of folly.
“Had she been intending to cause an injury to this man with a glass one would have thought she would have thrown it at him to avoid injury from shattering glass.
“Your honour heard about two fights all involving men. She did not have any motive for assaulting this individual. They are barely known to each other.”
He said she had a strong work ethic and had a job at Graham Smith UK Ltd which is involved in making cables for the telecoms industry.
Passing sentence the judge said “The seriousness of this case is reflected by the fact that a glass was used which caused an injury to the back of the head of the victim.
“One immediately to see whether an immediate sentence of imprisonment should be imposed.”
He ruled “I find that this injury was not caused by your recklessness.”
He said “The fact of the matter was there were many people in the pub, many of whom had drunk too much.
“My reading of the statement was you were trying to stop this altercation between the two men who should have known better.”
He passed a four-month jail term suspended for a year and told her to do 120 hours of community service.
After passing sentence he said: “I order no compensation bearing in mind the circumstances in which the victim was involved.”
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