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| Guilty: Hawkins |
A drunken beauty therapist, who smashed a glass into the eye of a schoolteacher, claiming the other woman’s pub dance floor moves were “overly sexual”, was jailed for three-and-a-half years yesterday.
Jennifer Hawkins, 35, was caught at 2am on the pub’s CCTV twice shoving 30 year-old Faye Evans out of the way before suddenly thrusting the glass into her face, causing permanent eye damage.
“You accepted in your evidence you must be punished because in that moment you formed a wicked intention to cause Faye Evans serious injury and carried through that intent by thrusting a glass into her face,” Recorder Daniel Benjamin told her.
“That night changed the life of Faye Evans forever as a result of your unlawful actions. Glass cut deeply through her nerves and muscles to the bone, leaving numbness even to this week when she was giving evidence.
“Glass debris was left in her cornea and there was a scar through her pupil, resulting in blurred vision and she struggles with everyday work and reading and driving and will have to live with the effects of that night for the rest of her life and so will you.”
A Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court jury took just over an hour to unanimously convict businesswoman Hawkins of inflicting grievous bodily harm, with intent, at The Bedford pub, Balham in the early hours of January 27, 2019.
Company Director Hawkins, of Kingston Road, Raynes Park had already pleaded guilty before the trial to the less serious charge of simply wounding Ms Evans, claiming she was not aware of the glass in her hand as she pushed her to the face.
That night she had already consumed four vodkas and a glass of champagne.
Ms Evans denied her dancing was directed towards Hawkins in a sexual manner, insisting the moves were from her student days at university.
In a victim impact statement she told the court she has suffered “anxiety and panic attacks since the trauma,” plus PTSD.
“I will have medical checks for the rest of my life, which I find really hard to deal with,” she added. “After the incident I was emotional and on edge and was paranoid and suffered a loss of confidence, sleep and bad dreams.”
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| 'Glassed': Evans |
Prosecutor Mr Mark Mullins said: “She was not blinded completely, but when she is not wearing glasses it is as if she is.”
He also criticised Hawkins’ defence. “She chose to put all the blame for this incident on the victim and that was roundly rejected by the jury and put to the victim her dancing was over sexualised and that ended up detrimentally to the victim in the newspapers.”
During the three-day trial Ms Evans, who was enjoying a night out with a large group of friends, said: “I just remember having a little dance and the next thing I was on the floor and felt blood coming down my face.
“It was like waking up from a dream and there was chaos around me. Blood was streaming down my face and going into my mouth and I had to spit it out.
“It felt like my face had been ripped apart and for a long time I could not see out of my left eye.
“I needed stitches for the laceration and they had to check if glass had gone into my head. It had cut through a nerve and muscle so the next day I had to go into surgery.
“I was cut through to the bone and still have numbness and a tingly sensation and if I am brushing my hair I get a shooting pain in the forehead.
“They said if it had been in the centre of the pupil I would have gone blind and I have been left with blurred vision.”
After viewing the CCTV footage Ms Evans added: “It makes me sick when I watch it, sick and disgusted.
“It was such an evil thing to do to someone and has ripped me apart psychologically.”
Five foot, eleven inch tall Ms Evans herself had three gin and tonics, wine and Sambuca and denied being “aggressive” towards the shorter five foot, two inch tall Hawkins.
The defendant claims the former hockey player was “breathing heavily, smelling of alcohol, drunk and intimidating,” which Ms Evans denied.
She also denied a defence claim she was “taking the Mickey” out of Hawkins.
The CCTV footage showed Hawkins twice push Ms Evans away and the victim denied leaning in to the defendant, saying: “Who the f*** do you think you are, pushing me.”
Mr Mullins told the jury: “All of a sudden the defendant swung her arm and struck the side of Ms Evans’ face and when she saw blood she ran away.
“A security guard saw Ms Evans stumble back, knocking glasses off a table and she fell over. she had two cuts to her forehead and there was blood all over her face.”
Hawkins was arrested and questioned at Wandsworth Police Station. “She said she was tipsy and that she was dancing when Ms Evans came between her and her friend.
“She said there may have been a bit of jealousy and she did nudge her out of the way and Ms Evan came back towards her and said: ‘F***ing bitch’.
“She said she pushed her out of the way, not noticing she had a glass in her hand.”
Hawkins’ lawyer Jo Hardy asked the court: “How did a thirty-something woman with no history of violence end up here, having caused a catastrophic injury to another woman?
“She will remain sorry for the rest of her life for that moment.”
