Wrexham,North Wales - Bottle attacker given a second chance by judge

Published date: 17 November 2015 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
Read more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter

A YOUNG mother who hit a woman with a bottle on Halloween night has avoided immediate custody.

Jessica Prandle, 20, was told the fact her victim had said she should be given a chance because she had such a young baby had influenced the court.

Prandle, of Coed Aben, Wrexham, admitted wounding at an earlier hearing and received a 16 month prison sentence suspended for two years.

She was placed on 60 days rehabilitation and must observe a 6pm-6am curfew for two months at her mother’s home.

Judge Niclas Parry also made a five year restraining order that she is not to approach the victim in any way and warned her that if she breached her order then she would go into custody.

The judge said he had seen “a shocking picture of a gaping wound” above the victim’s left eye. She would be scarred for the rest of her life.

“You did that with a bottle because you lost your temper,” he said. 

She reacted violently to situations of conflict and at the time of the offence she was on a supervision order and just out of a suspended prison sentence for robbery.

Only custody was justified, but Judge Parry said that exceptionally it would be suspended.

To their eternal credit the prosecution witnesses, including the young girl she injured, had indicated they wanted the defendant to be given a chance because she had a young baby to care for, he said.

The judge said that he was not going to ignore the powerful submissions made to him. She had kept out of trouble for 12 months and had pleaded guilty to wounding.

Emmalyne Downing, prosecuting, told how on September 29 last year the victim and a friend left a pub and the friend was singing.

Prandle accused her of singing to her boyfriend and squared up to her.

The victim intervened and the defendant picked up a bottle and swung it, hitting her above the eye.

She was left with a one inch cut above the eye which needed to be glued, and a swollen nose.

The victim was conscious of the scar and felt it would be there for life.

Stephen Edwards, defending, said his client was in custody after she breached her bail curfew.

Her father was a well-known figure in Wrexham with mental health issues and who begged in the town. His client had therefore suffered as a result of being labelled ‘Prandle’s daughter’. 

She had her own vulnerabilities and had her own mental health difficulties.

The defendant was very young, but had an appalling record. She had not been drinking that night because she was pregnant and was remorseful for what she had done.

It was her case that the incident had been started by a friend of the complainant, but Prandle accepted she lost her temper.

Earlier charges of wounding with intent and intimidation, which Prandle denied, were dropped at an earlier hearing.

See- http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/154932/wrexham-bottle-attacker-given-a-second-chance-by-judge.aspx