Woman given suspended jail term for stiletto shoe attack in nightclub

A pizza shop worker who used her stiletto shoe to strike another woman in the face in a nightclub has been sentenced to a 14-month suspended prison term.

Ms Roberts, in her 20s, had just come downstairs from another room in the nightclub and was buying a bottle of water while waiting for her friends to leave when she was attacked, the court heard.

She said blood had streamed from her face and she did not know if she would recover sight in her left eye for several days after the attack, which happened at around 3am on September 18 2016.

Jeffery was sentenced to a 14-month suspended prison term at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday, with the term suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, banned from nightclubs and public houses for nine months, given a six-month curfew and ordered to pay £1,250 compensation to her victim.

Prosecutor Andrew Hope said Ms Roberts was attacked as she bought a bottle of water.

“She said she went to the bar, ordered a bottle of water, received it and stepped back a little,” said Mr Hope.

“She said as soon as she stepped back she was struck three times to her left eye by someone outside her vision.

“She said she thought she might have been hit by a bottle as her eye was pouring with blood.

“She heard her friend repeatedly shout ‘you’ve got the wrong girl’.”

In a victim impact statement, Ms Roberts said she suffered floaters in her eyes, saw flashing light and had migraines.

“She talks about the hardest part being for a number of days not knowing whether she would recover sight in her left eye,” said Mr Hope.

James Lachkovic, mitigating, said Jeffery had acted as a “peacemaker” in an altercation earlier in the night and had taken her shoes off to hold them.

He said Jeffery struck out with her shoes as “a reaction to having her glasses knocked off” by somebody else.

He said she also threw a glass, and added: “She reacts for about two seconds extremely badly.”

He said Jeffery works at a pizza delivery business, it was an isolated incident and she has no previous convictions.

Jeffery denied inflicting grievous bodily harm but admitted a charge of unlawful wounding, which was put to her in an amended indictment on the second day of her trial at Basildon Crown Court.

Mr Hope said Jeffery’s plea was acceptable to the Crown.

Jeffery, of Tantelen Road, Canvey Island, who has long blonde hair and wore glasses and a black dress, spoke only to enter her pleas.