A pensioner smashed a glass into her niece's face after a long-running family dispute erupted into violence, a court has heard. Victoria Sutton and her niece had separately watched a Six Nations rugby game in a Llanelli pub before the assault took place.
After the game Sutton and her victim stepped outside to talk but an argument broke out which resulted in the 71-year-old defendant hitting her niece in the face with the glass she was holding. The victim was left with a scar on her eyelid and suffering with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sutton had previously been convicted at trial of inflicting grievous bodily harm when she returned to the dock of Swansea Crown Court for sentencing. During the trial the defendant claimed that the facial wound had been caused accidentally when somebody had physically intervened in her argument with her niece causing the glass she was holding to fly out of her hand.
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The court heard that Sutton and her niece were members of two separate groups who were in the Halfway pub in Llanelli in March 2020 watching a Six Nations rugby game. After the match the pub began a karaoke session and the niece invited Sutton – who by this stage was alone – to join her group. Due to the noise in the pub the pair went outside to talk and the court heard a long-running family dispute came to the surface which led to both parties becoming "agitated and angry" and to an argument developing. Sutton then struck her niece in the face with the glass she was holding. The glass smashed and caused a cut just above the victim's right eye. Following the altercation both women were ejected from the pub. The niece later went to Morriston Hospital where a 2cm gash close to the eye was stitched.
In an impact statement made some eight months after the assault the victim said she had been left with a scar on her right eyelid and had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Sutton, of Glyncoed Terrace, Llanelli, had previously been convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Kate Williams, for Sutton, said the defendant was a retired lady who lived with, and acted as carer for, her husband. She said in the two years since the incident there had been no further offending and her client "has not involved herself in any further family disputes".
Recorder Aiden Eardley noted the defendant maintained her innocence to the author of the pre-sentence report and it had been concluded she had no great insight into, or remorse for, what she had done. He said he accepted the offence was out of character for the defendant but the incident was so serious only a custodial sentence was appropriate. However he said given Sutton's caring responsibilities and her assessment as being a low risk of reoffending he was satisfied it was a term of imprisonment which could be suspended.
Sutton was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for 12 months and was fined £400. She was also made the subject of a five-year restraining order banning her from contacting her victim. The recorder said he did not have enough information to make an assessment as regards to any compensation order and he rejected a prosecution application for costs saying Sutton's priority should be paying the fine.
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