A drunken mother with a history of violence has narrowly avoided prison for glassing another woman in a bar after things got ‘extremely out of hand’.

Charlotte Murphy’s attack at Shammy’s Bar in Beverley, East Yorkshire, caused a laceration injury and could have blinded her victim if pieces of glass had gone into her eye.

The 25-year-old, of Mill Lane, Skipsea, later became aggressive and ‘extremely vocal’ to the police and was found to have cannabis in her handbag. 

Murphy, who was ‘completely out of it’, has been to prison before but narrowly escaped being locked up again after she admitted affray and possessing cannabis on March 3.

Leila Taleb, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court that Murphy and the other woman were at a bar on a Sunday when Murphy approached the woman and attacked her with a glass, smashing it over her head and causing a laceration injury to her left eye.

The glass had been used as a ‘weapon to inflict violence’ on the other woman.

‘The defendant then left the area,’ said Miss Taleb. CCTV pictures showed Murphy trying to enter a pub, also in Beverley. Police attended and found Murphy with a man where she was arrested.

‘Upon arrest, the defendant became obstructive towards police officers and resisted arrest,’ said Miss Taleb. ‘She was taken to the floor and placed in rigid handcuffs.

‘She was extremely vocal and was shouting. She was clearly under the influence of alcohol.’

Before Murphy was put into a police van, she was searched and cannabis was found in her handbag. While being taken to custody, she said: ‘I am so sorry. I did not mean to do this.’

During a police interview, Murphy said that she could not recall the incident and she just remembered being out drinking. ‘She did admit pushing a female with blonde hair but could not remember much else,’ said Miss Taleb.

‘She admitted being in possession of cannabis as she identified the jar and grinder containing the cannabis as hers. The cannabis cost her about £10.’

Murphy had convictions for nine previous offences, most of them for assaults, and possessing cannabis in 2020. She had been jailed for 16 weeks in June 2021. Her most conviction was last year for travelling on a railway without paying.

Emily Hassell, mitigating, said that, on the night of the incident, Murphy met up with her son’s father for the first time in a number of months to discuss access and child care arrangements.

‘That situation was extremely emotionally charged for her,’ said Miss Hassell. They met at a cinema as a ‘neutral place’ but they ended up going for a few drinks.

‘Things got extremely out of hand,’ said Miss Hassell. ‘She was completely out of it. She was embarrassing.’ Unemployed Murphy claimed that she was now five months’ pregnant.

Judge Richard Woolfall told Murphy: ‘You ended up in Shammy’s Bar in Market Place, Beverley, and you ended up hitting a female on the head, and possibly in the face, with a glass. You were very intoxicated.’

‘It was very fortunate that none of the glass went into the woman’s eye or she might have lost her sight. The woman did not want to make a complaint, which was why the charge was only affray.

‘You behaved very badly when you were arrested, as you have done in the past,’ said Judge Woolfall. ‘This is another example of you behaving violently in drink.

‘There is evidence of this happening on too much of a regular basis. I accept that this wasn’t planned. You had met up with your son’s father. You had drunk more than you were intending.

‘You must understand that, when you have too much to drink, you behave badly and people get hurt. You were in drink. You have previous convictions for violence.’

Murphy’s son would turn three years old in December and she had responsibilities. ‘You have been to prison before and you very much run the risk of missing major milestones in his life,’ said Judge Woolfall.

Murphy was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, 20 days’ rehabilitation and a 120-day alcohol abstinence monitoring order.

‘If you drink anything in the next 120 days, it will trigger that device and you will be in breach of this order and you will then be sent to prison, whether you have children or not,’ said Judge Woolfall.

He added that the only reason that Murphy had been spared prison was because she had a young son and because she claimed that she was five months’ pregnant. But Judge Woolfall warned Murphy that, if it was discovered that she had lied about being five months’ pregnant, it would be a serious matter and she could face a charge of perverting the course of justice.