Pair face sentence over bottle attack
TWO men have appeared in court after an attack which left a Southport woman out cold on a pavement.
Katie MacDonald, 20, was left bloodied and numb after being hit with a bottle in Railway Road in Ormskirk on January 18.
Her attackers, Charlie Lawton, 24, of Cottage Lane, Ormskirk, and David Moran, 22, of Redgate, Ormskirk, appeared at Preston Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced but the court ruled that the attack on Katie was so serious that it did not have sufficient sentencing powers and referred the case to crown court.
Tracy Yates, prosecuting, told the court that on
January 18, Katie had been out with friends at the Alpine bar in Ormskirk.
The bar was busy and a group of men started barging into her friends.
An argument broke out and someone threw the contents of his drink over one of Katie’s friends. “She was stuck in the middle, trying to calm things down,” Ms Yates said.
As the group left the bar, Katie saw one of the men pick up a glass bottle from a nearby wall, and heard them talking about “getting” one of the men she was with.
Ms Yates said: “She shouted to the group and walked over and told them to ‘pack it in’.
“The male told her to ‘move, you stupid slag’, she felt herself moving back, saw something green and felt a blow to her face.
“She woke up on the pavement. She was in a lot of pain and her nose felt numb.”
Katie was taken to hospital where she had an X-ray for swelling to her nose, which was not broken.
She had a number of cuts and bruises to her face.
Ms Yates said: “This appears to be a group incident with these two defendants, and I accept there was a previous incident with Katie’s friend, who seems to have added fuel to the fire.”
After he was arrested, Lawton told officers that he had been assaulted by Katie’s friend and could not remember what happened.
He said:
“If
I’ve assaulted her, I’m really sorry. It’s not something I would do.”
After hearing the case, the district judge said it was too serious to be dealt with in the magistrates’ court. He granted Lawton and Moran unconditional bail and to attend Preston Crown Court on November 18 to be sentenced.