Spared jail, the estate agent who glassed man for spurning her in pub
AN ESTATE agent attacked a stranger with a wine glass when he spurned her in a crowded pub.
Sarah Brown, 27, flew into a rage when the man turned his back on her – and twice thrust her glass into her victim in the ‘vicious and unprovoked’ attack.
But she was spared jail after being ordered to attend classes in alcohol and anger management. A court heard how the estate agent had gone drinking after work when she spotted the man, 20, standing at the bar at around 10pm.
Brown pulled on his jumper to attract his attention – and he initially turned round to face her at the Rock and Fountain pub in Skewen, near Neath, South Wales.
But when he turned back to talk to a friend he felt a blow to the back of his head. Prosecutor Ashanti- Jade Walton told Swansea Crown Court the man was hit twice in the unprovoked attack and felt liquid trickling down his back. He was left with a V-shaped wound that required six stitches at hospital.
In a victim impact statement the man, who was not named, said he had been left ‘feeling like I am always looking over my shoulder’. The court heard he did not know Brown before the attack. He said he was having difficulty sleeping and kept replaying the incident over in his head.
But Brown, who was described as hard-working and successful, was spared jailed after admitting she had anger and alcohol problems.
John Hipkin, defending, said: ‘She has no explanation for what happened other than the alcohol. She recognises she has issues with alcohol and anger management that now need to be addressed.’
Brown, of Neath, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive
‘Vicious and unprovoked’
weapon. The court heard she had no previous convictions, but did have a caution for battery from 2014.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told her: ‘You caused your victim a very unpleasant injury. This was a vicious, unprovoked glassing of a stranger in a pub. To hit anyone with a glass is a serious offence because of the damage it can do, and always crosses the custody threshold.’
Judge Thomas added that if she had glassed the man in the face she would have been jailed.
Brown was handed a 12month suspended sentence and ordered to complete rehabilitation courses in alcohol and anger management. She was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and told to pay her victim £2,000.