A cowardly thug has been jailed after he attacked a student with a bottle on a night out as he tried to calm down a row.
Katie MacDonald, a student at Edge Hill University, was knocked unconscious and left with deep cuts to her face after she was glassed by Charlie Lawton.
It happened outside the Alpine nightclub in Ormskirk, Lancashire, Lancs Live reports .
The shocking attack in January prompted appeals for witnesses first from the victim’s mum, who branded the attacker a coward, and then from Lancashire Police.
Lawton, 24, was later arrested and charged with assault charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.
His friend, David Moran, 22, was charged with affray and possession of an offensive weapon for his role in the incident, which did not involve hurting geography student Katie.
Both pleaded guilty to all charges at Preston Magistrates’ Court in October but the offences were considered so serious that the district judge ruled that sentencing should be passed up to Preston Crown Court.
Sentencing took place on Monday and Lawton,was handed a nine month custodial sentence.
Moran, of Redgate, was spared immediate imprisonment when he was given a six month sentence suspended for 18 months.
At the magistrates’ court hearing, Tracy Yates, prosecuting, explained that Katie had been on a night out with friends.
The bar was busy and a group of men started barging into her friends before an argument broke out and someone threw the contents of his drink over one of Katie’s friends.
“She was stuck in the middle, trying to calm things down,” Ms Yates told the court.
As the group left the bar, Katie saw one of the men pick up a bottle from a nearby wall, and heard them talking about “getting” one of the men she was with.
Ms Yates said: “She shouted the group and walked over and told them to pack it in.
“The male told her to ‘move, you stupid slag’, she felt herself moving back, saw something green and felt a blow to her face. She woke up on the pavement. She was in a lot of pain and her nose felt numb.”
Following his arrest, Lawton told officers he had been assaulted by Katie’s friend and couldn’t remember what happened.
He said: “If I’ve assaulted her, I’m really sorry.
“It’s not something I would do."
