A woman launched a drink over a model before smashing a gin flute into her arm after celebrating her mum’s 50th birthday.
Kia Steward, 24, caused a “substantial injury” to her victim’s arm whilst in a city centre Gin bar in Liverpool, in the early hours of June 2 last year. A court was shown CCTV which showed how the gin glass was used “as a weapon”.
As the Liverpool Echo reports, Steward had been out to mark her mum’s birthday when she entered The Underground Gin Society on Castle Street. One inside, Steward stumbled across Ellie Young – a young woman who she had known for a number of years but was not on good terms with due to an earlier dispute. However instead of leaving the bar and walking away from any potential conflict, Steward threw the contents of a gin flute over Ms Young, before hospitalising her by smashing the glass into her arm and shoulder.
John Keane, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday morning, Tuesday, February 18 that Ms Young and her friend Ms Roberts were in the Castle Street bar when they were approached by the defendant. Mr Keane told the court that after throwing the drink, Steward turned and walked towards the exit.
However, CCTV played to the court showed Ms Young follow her and grab hold of the defendant. But Steward turned and used the gin flute in her hand “as a weapon”. Mr Keane said: “The glass smashed causing substantial injury to her forearm and shoulder.” He said the wound on Ms Young’s forearm was 4.5cm by 2.5cm and was “down to the muscle”.
Mr Keane added the injury to the victim’s shoulder was 1.5cm in length. The court heard after the defendant caused the injuries she left the bar, while patrons wrapped jackets around the arm of the victim to try and stem the bleeding. Mr Keane said Ms Young was “bleeding heavily” and sat on the steps at the entrance to the bar.
The court heard the defendant spoke briefly with the victim’s friend Ms Roberts and some other people before leaving the bar with a man. When police officers arrived at the scene they administered first aid and an ambulance was called. When officers searched the bar they found a glass with blood on it.
Mr Keane said police closed the bar and patrons were asked to leave through the rear exit while crime scene investigators analysed the scene. Ms Young was taken to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital where the wound was flushed to remove any broken glass. She was later transferred to Whiston Hospital where she underwent surgery.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Mr Keane, Ms Young said the incident had “turned my life upside down”. She said the attack was a “nightmare without the concept of reality” and added: “I feel repulsed by the inhumanity of the situation…I will always bear the scars, both visible and invisible.”
Ms Young claimed she “could see the bone” when she looked down at her arm injury and believed she was going to die. She added: “I thought if I was going to die, what would I say to my loved ones?” Ms Young said when she returned home she went to her mum’s room and “felt vulnerable, like a child”.
The victim said in time she had managed to re-watch the CCTV but it reminded her how traumatic the events were. Ms Young added: “She did not just hurt me physically, she shattered my sense of safety.” The young woman said her modelling career had suffered as a result of the attack and she was always asked where her scars have come from.
She added that she had since struggled with her mental health and her intrusive thoughts had “resulted in self-destructive behaviour”. Adding that she does not think she will be able to forgive her attacker, Ms Young said: “I will now live my life with the scars she has put on my body.”
When interviewed on July 8, the defendant said she had been “out for her mum’s 50th” before going on to the bar. Mr Keane added the defendant accepted throwing the drink, before leaving the scene to take a taxi home. Steward, who has no previous convictions, was initially charged with section 18 wounding, before entering an alternative guilty plea for section 20 grievous bodily harm when she appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on January 22 this year.
In mitigation, Jamie Baxter, defending, told the court that the incident was “completely out of character” for Steward. He told the court that the injuries to Ms Young were caused recklessly, but there was no evidence the glass had been used as a weapon.
He told the court: “It appears the injury was caused during the altercation when the stem broke, this is not a case when the weapon was smashed and then used.” Mr Baxter said a number of references showed a different side to Steward and described her as a “caring, loyal young woman”.
He said: “The court has seen a 30 second snapchat of Kia Steward’s life, the references speak for the other 24 years.” He said his client was a “mature young woman who supports her mother”, while a psychologist’s report had found Steward had experienced “associated feelings of shame and guilt”. Mr Baxter said: “Ms Steward is as good a character for a suspended sentence that this court will come across.”
Sentencing, Mr Recorder Michael Armstrong told Steward: “It would seem this incident was due to a resentment or ill-feeling” and the defendant had “impulsively lashed out” after she had “started a chain of events that led to the assault”. Recorder Armstrong said the incident had an “obvious and profound impact, both physical and psychological” on the victim.
However, he added: “The events that lasted moments will touch adversely the lives of everyone in the future, hopefully all parties will find a way to move on.” Recorder Armstrong told Steward, wearing a grey top and black shirt, that it was a “very serious offence certain to have long-lasting effects on Ms Young”.
But the judge said in mitigation Steward was a “family-orientated young lady” with references describing her as “respectful, honest, loyal, sincere and dependable”. He sentenced Steward, of Amethyst Close in Litherland, to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
He also imposed 150 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation days and a 12 month mental health treatment. He also enforced a five year restraining order to prevent Steward from contacting Ms Young, who was present in court to watch the sentencing, or from entering her home street in Woolton.
Before the defendant was allowed to leave the dock, Recorder Armstrong told her: “This was a very serious offence and I thought about it for a long time.” Steward, who was supported by a number of her family, hugged her mum before leaving the courtroom.
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