A violent thug who launched a pint glass at a pregnant Wetherspoon barmaid in a drunken rage after being refused service has been jailed.
Ben Kelly, 33, hurled the glass across the bar in a shocking outburst at the Up Steps Inn in Oldham town centre – leaving the woman, who was four weeks pregnant, with a painful lump on her face.
The horrific attack unfolded after Kelly was told he would not be served. He had earlier been kicked out of the pub on January 22 but returned later that day to retrieve a bag he had left behind.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that when staff again refused him service, Kelly began shouting and swearing before grabbing a pint pot from the bar and throwing it at the young woman.
The glass struck the barmaid on the cheek, leaving her in agony and fearing for her unborn child.
‘She tried her hardest not to cry and had a panic attack due to what happened. That was serious, in her position,’ Recorder Fiona Clancy told the court.
Manchester Evening News reported that the victim described feeling a ‘sharp pain’ on the right side of her face and thought she’d been punched.
Ben Kelly, 33, hurled the glass across the bar in a shocking outburst at the Up Steps Inn in Oldham town centre – leaving the woman, who was four weeks pregnant, with a painful lump on her face
Up Steps Inn in Oldham town centre where the incident took place
She said in a powerful victim impact statement: ‘I was four weeks pregnant and was extremely worried about the baby.
‘I am nervous to return to work as I don’t want to have to deal with something like this again. No-one should be subjected to this type of abuse.’
The judge condemned the attack as ‘disgusting and unwarranted’, warning Kelly: ‘You are incredibly lucky you didn’t [scar her for life], because you would have bared the consequences for that.’
CCTV footage captured the appalling incident and Kelly, a known regular at the pub, was quickly identified and barred from the premises for life. However, he wasn’t arrested until March 6.
When eventually interviewed by police, Kelly admitted he’d had a ‘tantrum’.
His defence barrister, Olivia Gatfield, told the court the assault was ‘impulsive’ and ‘short lived’, and pleaded for leniency on the grounds that Kelly had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. She claimed that alcohol misuse was the root of his offending.
Minshull Street Crown Court (above) heard that when staff again refused him service, Kelly began shouting and swearing before grabbing a pint pot from the bar and throwing it at the young woman
Despite this, the court heard that Kelly had a staggering 41 previous offences on his record and was already on a suspended sentence when the assault took place.
Recorder Clancy told him: ‘I accept you have anger issues and you struggle with your emotions.’
Kelly from Oldham pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was handed a total jail term of 12-and-a-half months — eight-and-a-half months for the pub attack and an additional four months for breaching his suspended sentence.
