Leeds second-year spared jail for bottle attack on model hopeful

The victim was left with serious facial scars


A lucky second-year who attacked a clubber with a champagne bottle in Manchester has been spared jail.

Leeds law undergrad Sarah McKenzie-Ayres struck a man twice to the head with the bottle after she believed he was “trying to get with her”.

The 19-year-old victim was left with blood streaming from his head and it was heard at Manchester Crown Court that his forehead was cut “to the bone”.

Venus nightclub

The victim hoped to pursue a career as a male model. However, after the attack at the Venus Nightclub, he has been left with permanent facial scarring and feels he can no longer follow his dream.

Sarah was arrested after club staff stopped her leaving the club so she could be identified.

Despite Sarah admitting to causing GBH, she was spared jail after telling the court she felt the victim had been “making unwelcome advances”.

The victim’s father said: “He was looking to pursue a modelling career, but he’s now lost any confidence in pursuing that and he’s very self-conscious of facial scars. The incident has traumatised him greatly.”

Judge David Stockdale told Sarah that the violence she used was “extraordinarily extreme”.

He also stated that: “It’s a matter of pure chance, nothing more, that the victim did not sustain extremely serious facial injuries.”

The judge ordered her to serve 16 months, suspended sentence for two years, with 150 hours unpaid work.