Pub-goer hit victim to floor with bottle

A DRINKER who hit a man with a bottle as she was thrown out of a pub had previous convictions for spitting at police, carrying a knife and attacking someone with her stiletto heels, a court heard yesterday.

Jade Miller struck the victim to his head with a glass bottle full of alcohol when he was not looking, which knocked him to the floor and left him injured.

Representing her during the hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, David Leathley accepted her actions were “unwarranted and wholly over the top”.

The court heard the incident occurred at O’Briens pub on Holton Road in Barry on the afternoon of March 21.

David Pugh, prosecuting, said the defendant was “escorted out” following a dispute.

Prosecutors said she spat at complainant Gary Asbury several times and hit him with her handbag. The court heard Miller fell “heavily” to the floor, as she was drunk.

She was then caught on CCTV taking a large bottle of alcohol out of her bag while Mr Asbury’s back was turned and hitting him on the head with it.

He fell to the ground as a result of the blow and fractured his ankle. Prosecutors said the victim had to go to hospital, where his leg was put in a cast, and he was also treated for a “relatively minor” injury to his head.

Police arrived at 3.30pm and arrested Miller, who accepted hitting the victim with her handbag and the bottle.

Mr Pugh said: “It is fortunate the bottle did not break or the injuries might have been more significant.”

Prosecutors said Miller had been before the courts for 49 previous offences, including possessing a knife in a public place in July 2013.

She was convicted in 2014 and 2017 of assaulting police officers by spitting in their faces.

The court heard she had a conviction for wounding after attacking a victim in the street with a pair of stilettos she was carrying.

Her record contained a further conviction for racially aggravated common assault after she spat at a shopkeeper who tried to stop her from stealing a bag of crisps.

Prosecutors said she was on licence at the time of the most recent offence.

They argued aggravating features included the fact the incident took place in a public street in the middle of the afternoon.

Miller, 22, who does not have a permanent address and appeared via video link from Eastwood Park Prison for the hearing, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Mr Leathley acknowledged there was “very little mitigation”, but stressed there was one single blow.

He suggested Miller lacked maturity and had been spending time “in the wrong company”.

The barrister described her as a “hopeless inebriate” who has been “drying out” while on remand.

He argued there was some provocation, as she was pushed roughly to the floor during the incident.

Mr Leathley added: “This is not a lady who premeditates violence.”

Judge Jeremy Jenkins said he was satisfied that an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.

He told Miller: “You are but 22 years of age but a cursory look at your antecedent history shows that you are a young lady who turns to violence all too quickly.”

She was given an extended sentence of four years and three months – made up of a jail term of two years and three months, plus an extended two-year licence period.

Miller must serve at least two thirds of the jail term before her case is referred to the Parole Board.