A WOMAN who permanently scarred her boyfriend after throwing a vase at his face in a 'reckless' attack has been sentenced.
Courtney Taylor-Braithwaite, 25, of Cross Street, Wrexham,was sentenced by Judge Niclas Parry at Mold Crown Court on Thursday, November 3 for wounding without intent her former partner Liam Bowkett in November 2021.
She was handed a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years, with 20 rehabilitation days and will be tagged for 120 days to monitor alcohol abstinence.
The court heard that on November 27 last year, the defendant and Mr Bowkett had been out celebrating his birthday, taking cocaine and drinking, before an argument ensued about whether to carry on drinking in Wrexham.
It was reported that the defendant opposed this, leading to prolonged and heated arguments between the pair that led to Mr Bowkett abandoning his plans to carry on drinking with a friend.
After more arguments at Taylor-Braithwaite's flat, the victim tried to leave the property but felt something hit his face and he was left feeling faint with red in his eye.
Mr Bowkett eventually returned to the property after speaking to his mother and step-dad, but police arrived there because an ambulance had been called on his behalf by his parents, and they had in turn called officers.
He initially did not want to engage with either police or paramedics, but he was eventually convinced to receive hospital treatment and a piece of glass had to be removed from his eye, leaving him with multiple facial injuries.
Taylor-Braithwaite was arrested but gave a no-comment interview, while Mr Bowkett later made an assault complaint.
In a victim impact statement, he said that the pain was 'horrendous' and he is no longer a 'confident outgoing person', and that he cannot meet new people because they 'stare at his scars'.
In mitigation, the court heard Taylor-Braithwaite was 'thoroughly ashamed of herself for doing something to someone she thoroughly cared for' and had expressed genuine sorrow to her grandmother and a probation officer.
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The court also heard the defendant had been a victim of domestic abuse by Mr Bowkett on a previous occasion, and she had given up alcohol.
Judge Parry, in sentencing her, said he took those mitigating factors into account, as well as her guilty plea in trial, but said the injuries she caused Mr Bowkett passed the custody threshold.
He added: "The injuries were terrible and your victim was lucky not to lose an eye.
"Some 12 months after the incident, he has been left with multiple permanent scarring.
"You used glass as a weapon to cause injury in 2018 and on this occasion you are to be sentenced for offending while on Class A drugs and in drink.
"A weapon was used and it ended in permanent grave injury, and that is aggravated by the nature of the incident, your previous history and the drugs and alcohol.
"Your victim is scarred and there is a psychological effect on him."
He added: "I bear in mind that both of you were involved in heated argument under influence of drugs and alcohol.
"I accept the history of your victim being convicted of assaulting an emergency worker who had been called to your home because he had assaulted you."
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