A teenage rugby-playing barmaid may need plastic surgery after being assaulted by a drinker at a powerboat racing club in Lancashire.
The young woman was attacked by customer Alan Smith on April 15 last year, heard Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday. The 49-year-old lorry driver struck her as she lay helplessly on the floor, then launched an unprovoked assault on another victim.
The barmaid, Alyx Bridge, may now have to have corrective work done to fix the facial injury she suffered after a fight broke out at Lancashire Powerboat Racing Club, in St Helens. She was working behind the bar when the altercation happened, reports the Liverpool Echo.
A man called Paul Barrow was drinking with a group of other customers. But they “became agitated” with him as they had been buying him drinks, with a scuffle breaking out when they suggested it was his round.
He then accused them of “bullying him”, with staff including the teenager intervening. Ms Bridge then led Barrow outside in order to escort him into a taxi.
As they waited for the vehicle to arrive, one of the party “burst out of the doors” and charged at them “full tilt”, closely followed by Smith. The worker attempted to stand between them, but the other male “careered straight into her” and knocked her to the ground.
The defendant then leant over her and delivered another blow to the now 19-year-old university student. She described how her “nose exploded” as a result of the attack and left her covered in blood, running back inside the premises to escape any further attack.
Afterwards, the assailant, from Haydock, who had no previous convictions, turned his attentions to Barrow. The married dad-of-two was caught on CCTV punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground, having fallen as he attempted to flee.
Ms Bridge was left with damage to her nasal cartilage as a result of the attack and may require a rhinoplasty to correct the issue. She has not returned to work at the club and has even suffered panic attacks since the incident.
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A statement read out to the court on her behalf said: “I was a young woman trying to help a customer out. I did not deserve to be treated this way.
“I miss my life before the attack. It has changed in every way.”
Chris Hegarty, defending, told the court that his client had worked a 12-hour night shift the evening before the incident then went to the club to attend an Easter egg hunt and watch St Helens’ Good Friday clash with Wigan Warriors on the TV after two hours of sleep. He added: “This defendant is ashamed and devastated by what he has done.
“He asserts that he will never trouble these courts again. He was told that Barrow had been acting inappropriately to staff.
“This is clearly wholly out of character for this defendant. He can only attribute such abhorrent behaviour to the amount of alcohol he had consumed which caused him to act impulsively and with recklessness.
“He can’t believe he has done what he did – a mild mannered, non-aggressive male. I don’t think the courts will be seeing this defendant again.”
Smith admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was handed a 14-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
Sentencing Recorder Kate Cornell said: “She was simply performing her duties in helping another customer to leave and get a taxi. She was entirely innocent of any wrongdoing, yet she was knocked down and struck with significant force.
“She will take a long time to recover. This was an entirely unprovoked and unjustified attack.
“Goodness knows what you were thinking. You have demonstrated genuine remorse and shame.
“I can see today you are cowed by this incident, as you should be. It may have been a moment of madness, but the ripple effect of your actions is huge.”
Smith must also complete 250 hours of unpaid work, an alcohol abstinence requirement of six months and a 12-month curfew from 8pm to 6am on Sunday nights. He was given a restraining order banning him from contact Ms Bridge for three years, and was told to pay her £800 in compensation.
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