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New Year's Eve attack at Folkestone's Skuba Bar and Bistro left woman permanently scarred
05:00, 11 December 2021
A reveller left a woman permanently scarred after glassing her in the face in a packed bar.
Jack Nicholl, 24, launched the missile at a rival in Folkestone’s Skuba Bar and Bistro on New Year's Eve in 2019 following a row.
But it missed and landed in the face of partygoer Jane Richards, slicing the skin under her right eye and leaving her requiring stitches.
The father-of-one was handed a suspended sentence at Canterbury Crown Court this week after pleading guilty to unlawful wounding on the day of trial.
Prosecutors told how Nicholl, in a fit of rage, caused his victim the 3cm long wound.
“Mr Nicholl became angry in an altercation with another male.
“That male slapped Mr Nicholl in the face, thereafter Mr Nicholl threw a glass at that man and, unfortunately, it hit a lady who attended that public house, Jane Richards.
“That glass hit her below the right eye and it immediately started to bleed,” prosecutor Jessica Ward said.
The court heard Ms Richards was rushed to a nearby hospital and treated with stitches, her mental health would suffer immediately after the incident.
She suffered depression and, for a short time, feared leaving her home due to concerns over her appearance, the court heard.
She would also suffer paranoia, anxiety and sleepless nights but avoided lasting consequences.
Nicholl, flanked by two dock officers, wept as Emin Kandola, mitigating, argued his case.
Now the sole carer for his baby, Nicholl had enrolled in a university course and cleaned up his act since the attack, she explained.
“His exact words to me were ‘I’m no longer that person, I feel awful and disgusted by my behaviour.’
“He is extremely sorry,” she continued.
Handing down a twelve-month sentence suspended for two years, Judge Recorder Malcolm Gibney said the victim will remember New Year's Eve 2019 “for all the wrong reasons.”
“You launched a glass across the bar striking her in the face,” he said.
But he praised Nicholl for taking on the role of sole carer for his baby and entering higher education, before giving him a chance to provide for the child instead of immediate custody.
“Thank you, seriously thank you,” said a visibly distressed Nicholl as the sentence was passed.
Nicholl, of Cheriton High Street, Folkestone, who has stayed out of trouble since the incident, will have to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 80 hours of unpaid work.
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