Madison Bagley, a woman glassed by the daughter of an RAF commander, has said she feels "unsafe, unheard and completely unprotected" after her attacker was released from prison after serving just 30% of her sentence.
Jessica Cloke, daughter of RAF Group Captain Simon Cloke, attacked Bagley, formerly of Rock Ferry, inside the Sovereign Base Area (SBA) in Cyprus, leaving her with a gaping facial wound.
Attack details
Cloke, 20 at the time, spent the night of August 22 last year drinking in a pub before aggressively confronting her former friend and striking her with a glass. Bagley required 50 stitches as part of major facial reconstruction surgery.
Cloke, who was in a relationship with a serviceman deployed on the island, initially denied causing grievous bodily harm but changed her plea on the first day of her trial at a closed court in Episkopi. Judge Brian Cummings KC, who usually sits in Liverpool, sentenced her to 14 months in April. She was held at HMP Dhekelia.
Early release shock
Bagley and her family were notified last Friday that Cloke had been released. Bagley said she is "genuinely terrified" and constantly looks over her shoulder. Her brother MacKenzie questioned the release, noting Cloke was the only woman in the jail and it was not overcrowded.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a prisoner has been released on licence in accordance with the Sovereign Base Area's administration's established policy and process. Anyone wishing to challenge that decision may do so through the appropriate legal channels. It would not be appropriate to comment further on an individual case."
In a statement provided by her brother, Bagley told the ECHO: "I am genuinely terrified that Jessica is out. The police told me she was obsessed with me, and now I have no idea what she might do next. I am constantly looking over my shoulder and wondering whether she will try to find me again."
She added: "She permanently changed my life. I have suffered serious physical and emotional harm, undergone major facial surgery and been left with a permanent disfigurement. I have even had to leave the life I knew because I was frightened of her."
Judge's remarks
At sentencing, Judge Cummings described the CCTV footage: "It was you who pursued and accosted the victim in the public house, you then assaulted her by throwing your wine in her face and, when she then retaliated by pouring water over you, you then smashed a glass in her face."
He added: "In my judgement none of that was self-defence. Focusing on your use of the glass, if anything that was grossly excessive and unwarranted retaliation by you for her pouring water over you, something which you had yourself provoked by throwing wine in her face. Retaliation is not the same as self-defence. You were not acting out of fear or any need to protect yourself. This was drunken anger. You started it. You were the aggressor."
Group Captain Cloke served as commander of RAF Akrotiri for three years and was in the role at the time of the attack. He has since been promoted to air commodore and is Chief of Staff at RAF High Wycombe.
