Woman, 21, jailed after glassing her friend in the face with Champagne flute

A woman who left a friend permanently disfigured after glassing her in the face with a Champagne flute has been jailed for almost three years.

Courtney Ridgeway, 21, carried out the vicious attack after a dispute with the pal at a supported housing complex, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Lucy Brown, prosecuting, said Ridgeway, from Leeds, had known her victim for around seven months and had previously got on well.

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But on the day in question, the two had got into a fight and later, Ridgeway had struck the woman with the Champagne flute.

Courtney Ridgeway, 21Courtney Ridgeway, 21
Courtney Ridgeway, 21

The wound was said to be so deep that the victim's skull was visible. Leeds Crown Court heard that the incident took place on December 27, 2019.

Shortly before it happened, the victim went outside to have a cigarette where she saw Ridgeway, the defendant's brother and another woman having an argument.

The victim asked Ridgeway to leave before punching her and causing her to have a split lip.

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Ridgeway retaliated by grabbing the woman by the hair and the pair began fighting. Staff at the premises intervened and stopped the fight, and the victim was led away to her bedroom by a duty care worker.

But the prosecutor said that Ridgeway then struck the victim to the side of the head with a broken Champagne flute. A witness later described how Ridgeway had picked up the glass and smashed it against a wall before carrying out the attack.

The victim said she instantly felt pain and began bleeding, and the wound was so deep that the victim's skull was visible.

Police were contacted and they recovered the broken Champagne flute. Ridgeway's and the victim's DNA were found on the weapon, which indicated that it had been used to carry out the attack.

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Officers arrested Ridgeway at her then home in Gipton, Leeds. The defendant later told the officers: "You should be locking her up too. I have spoken to her on the phone, and we are all sorted now."

The court heard that the victim suffered a 5cm deep cut near to her temple, which had to be cleaned and X-rayed. She provided a statement to the court describing how she has been left permanently scarred.

Michael Walsh, mitigating, said Ridgeway was aged 19 at the time of the offence and had not been in trouble since. He said his client carried out the attack "in the heat of the moment" after being provoked.

He added that Ridgeway is now doing an art and design course at college and works part time for a food retailer.

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Ridgeway was jailed for two years and 11 months after pleading guilty to unlawful wounding.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC said: "What caused the fight and why you were fighting is immaterial. It was broken up and a duty care worker took [the victim] back to her flat. Unfortunately, you were not for giving up the fight.

"You burst into the bedroom. You broke a Champagne glass, as you acknowledge you did, and you struck her in the face with the broken glass. I am satisfied that since the offence you have tried to put it behind you.

"But I am afraid to say that I take the view that it is inevitable that there has to be a custodial sentence in this case."