Pub attack victim left ‘avoiding reflection’
A BANK holiday camping trip led to a woman smashing a glass into the face of another camper, leaving the victim’s terrified son screaming at the sight of his mother covered in blood.
Siyanda Allora Mngaza was part of a group of up to 15 people who paid a visit to the Ancient Briton pub in Penycae near Abercrave at the top of the upper Swansea Valley, over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May last year.
The pub has an adjacent field for camping, and another camper there that weekend was the victim, who was there with her partner and her three children. And while people had enjoyed an evening drinking, Mngaza later became involved in a confrontation with the other woman, which ended with Mngaza smashing a glass jar into the victim’s forehead, leaving her scarred and anxious about going out in public.
The victim said: “I don’t remember anything. I was knocked out and my partner’s friend dragged her off. One of our friends, a firefighter, took the glass out and started putting pressure, there was blood everywhere, someone took off their shirt to stop the bleeding. My three children were all asleep nearby when all this was happening, but my eldest son, 10, came out and saw me in a pool of blood. It’s affected him massively.
“My first realisation when it happened was my son stood in front of me screaming ‘mum why are you covered in blood?’”
Mngaza, of Heol Barri in Energlyn, Caerphilly, had denied wounding with intent to cause GBH, but was found guilty following a trial. She appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing, where Ian Wright, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement to the court, in which the victim wrote: “I no longer feel comfortable looking in the mirror. I do what I can to avoid my reflection.
“The scar is a constant reminder, and I suffer from flashbacks. The sound of glass smashing frightens me, and I feel anxious in public places. My son has started suffering from night terrors, and is crying in the night.”
Mr Wright added the victim feared vigilante attacks, after social media posts had been directed to her and her family following the incident.
Mitigating, Edward Mckiernan said: “This was an incident that was over in seconds.
“Earlier in the evening the complainant and defendant had been getting on very well, and the defendant had shared aspects of her disability and mobility issues.
“The incident was an aberration, completely inconsistent with the way the defendant has been living her life and the incident has caused a great deal of distress to the defendant and her family”.
He added Mngaza had undergone a number of surgical operations to her leg and faces more in the future, and said: “It was not pre-mediated, but it is being put as excessive selfdefence.”
Sentencing, recorder Carl Harrison said he noted Mngaza’s previous good character and lack of any criminal convictions.
But he added: “You went out with Miles Owens to the Ancient Briton campsite for the bank holiday weekend.
“[The complainant] was there with her three children, aged five, six and nine in a camper van, and you and Miles Owens were in a tent.
“The mood was good... and you and Miles Owens were described as being intoxicated, more so than the rest of them.
“You became involved in an confrontation with [another camper]. [The victim] intervened, as she considered [the other camper] a niece, and you became aggressive to her.
“You had a glass described as a jam jar, or mason jar, in your hand and you said if she put a hand on you you would put the jar in her face or smash the glass on her, which is what you did, on her forehead. You raised your arm and brought it down from your shoulder height forward and down with some force.
“There was glass in her hair and she fell to the floor. You fell also to the ground and there was some grappling.
“Afterwards she was described as having blood dripping everywhere. Had it landed lower you could have hit her in the eye and was a matter of luck the injuries in this case are not more serious. She has visible scarring which is a reminder of what happened.
“I do not accept this was excessive self-defence. There was evidence of premeditation and evidence you would use the glass before you did.”
He added it was a single blow and out of character, and accepted Mngaza needed ongoing invasive surgical treatment.
She was sentenced to a four-and-a-half years imprisonment, and told she would serve half of that in custody, and the rest on licence.
Mngaza, 21, was also made subject to a fiveyear restraining order, preventing her from going near the victim, or using social media that referred to her.
The complainant said following the trial: “It was a family camping holiday with me, my three children and partner. We were all outside it was raining so we were under the awning there having a sing song – my friend’s daughter had a tablet playing music, we weren’t very loud just having a bit of fun. We were all away together for a lovely day fabulous day with friends, two groups of them. An argument erupted, she [Mngaza] started to get angry. It’s been 20 times worse since the trial – when I had the phone call to say guilty I was over the moon but I went downhill after that. I suffer with anxiety I’ve been having panic attacks, nightmares.”