Freed from Spanish jail, girl soldier who slashed pal’s throat
A FEMALE soldier arrested on suspicion of slashing her best friend’s throat was released from a Spanish prison last night.
Sydney Cole was held in Majorca after allegedly glassing fellow soldier Sarah Ann Garrity in a nightclub fight at 1am on Monday.
But Miss Garrity will not press charges after Cole insisted: ‘I didn’t want to hurt my best friend.’
Miss Garrity, who lost four pints of blood in the drunken attack, yesterday said: ‘I am alive and that is all that matters.’ Last night Cole was bundled out of prison in Palma shortly after 8pm local time by two British men, believed to be family members. They sped away in a silver Ford which was left with the engine running outside the gates.
Cole was wearing a grey hooded tracksuit and dark sunglasses. She has been allowed to return to Britain as the investigation continues. No conditions were placed on her release and she has not had to post bail.
But she is believed to have been told she must make herself available to the judge in the future if required.
Miss Garrity was last night recovering on a general ward at Hospital Universitario Son espases after spending 24 hours in intensive care.
She has had 14 stitches in her neck.
She had been sharing a hotel room in the notorious party resort with Cole and another soldier, Deborah Ferguson.
She was apparently attacked in a drunken row at Bananas nightclub after a 14- hour drinking session on the beach and then at a foam party where revellers paid just £13 for unlimited alcohol.
Miss Garrity, from Middlesbrough, told relatives she had ‘accepted death and her whole life flashed before her eyes’ when she collapsed outside the club with blood spurting from her neck.
In a statement given to the court on Monday, Cole insisted: ‘everything was an accident. I didn’t want to hurt her, she is my best friend.’
The Londoner reportedly claimed that Miss Garrity’s horrific injury was a freak accident. She said she smashed a glass on the floor, causing a shard to bounce up and fly into Miss Garrity’s neck.
Cole claimed Miss Garrity had punched her while she intervened in a row.
However witnesses, who described the scene as a ‘horrific bloodbath’, told police they saw Cole throw the glass directly at Miss Garrity.
Cole’s statement to the judge added: ‘It was an accident. Sarah and I were very drunk because we had been drinking since 11 on Sunday morning but I didn’t want to cut her throat. She is my best friend.’
‘We began drinking at 11am in the hotel, afterwards in a bar and then again in the room. Then we went to an event with a free bar and we had shots, vodka, gin and other drinks.’
Miss Garrity, who serves in the Royal Logistics Corps, regularly poses in photos on social media alongside Cole, who serves in the Adjutant General’s Corps.
‘I didn’t want to hurt my best friend’