A young mother who smashed a glass into the face of another young woman at a party leaving her scarred for life has escaped jail.
Siobhan McCrory attended a house party at Ard na Ri in Letterkenny on November 1st, 2013.
During the party, words were exchanged with another woman, Catherine McClelland, and a scuffle broke out during which both women pulling eachother’s hair.
However during the struggle Ms McClelland was struck with a glass.
At first she thought it was just a punch but she soon realised she had blood coming from her face.
Ms McCrory, 29, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where she was charged with assault causing harm for which she pleaded guilty.
Garda Darren Carter said he interviewed Ms McClelland after she had attended Letterkenny University Hospital after the incident.
The victim was taken to Sligo General Hospital where shards of glass were removed from her eyelid while other glass objects were removed from her left orbit.
She was also left with a permanent scar which she must now disguise by using make-up.
Ms McCrory was arrested on November 11th, 2013 and while she did admit she had been in an altercation, she denied causing any injury to Ms McClelland by smashing a glass in her face.
The court heard that the accused has no previous convictions of any kind and has not come to the Gardai’s attention since.
A victim impact statement on behalf of Ms McClelland was read out in court.
She said she now has to disguise her scar with make-up and hates getting in family photos.
She aded that although she is a strong person and is trying to get on with her life, she continues to have flashbacks to the night of the attack.
The victim also alleged that Ms McCrory also approached he in an aggressive manner on a
number of occasions outside her home – a claim denied by the accused.
Ms McCrory, a mother of three children aged 15, 10 and 8, took to the witness stand to apologise to Ms McClelland.
Barrister Peter Nolan said the accused on the night was on a cocktail of vodka, red bull and anti-depressants, which he described as a lethal cocktail.
He said she is on disability allowance and has no compensation to offered the injured woman.
Judge John O’Hagan described the incident as a very serious charge which stemmed out of gossip and name calling.
He said he had considered all factors and considered a two year sentence.
However he said that he did not believe Ms McCrory realised what she did because she was so intoxicated on drink and drugs.
He added that if people could turn back the clock it would be a wonderful thing.
He replaced the two year sentence with 200 hours community service.