A woman who assaulted a fellow pub customer in a Swansea city centre Wetherspoons just days after being released from prison has been given a suspended sentence.
Danielle Ross, 36, launched an unprovoked attack on a woman at the Potter's Wheel pub on June 15, slapping her and throwing glasses at her. The court heard Ross was drunk and largely incomprehensible at the time.
Attack at the Potter's Wheel
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the victim and her friend initially sat outside the pub on the warm evening but moved inside due to a group of intoxicated people causing trouble. A highly intoxicated male from the group later approached the women inside, but they asked him to leave.
Ross then approached the women and began screaming at them, calling the victim a "bitch" before slapping her hard across the face with the back of her hand. She picked up a half-pint glass and a wine glass and threw them towards the victim. The glasses missed the woman but hit the wall behind her and smashed, scattering shards of glass, including in the victim's hair.
Police called and arrest
Ross fled the pub, and staff took the complainant to a private room. Police were called, and officers took the victim to Morriston Hospital, where she was seen by medics after a 12-hour wait. Ross was identified and arrested on June 19. In her interview, she answered "no comment" to all questions.
Ross, of Primrose Court, Heol Emrys, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. She has 30 previous convictions, including drink-driving, assault, thefts, criminal damage, and disorderly behaviour.
Sentencing
In March this year, Ross was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for battery, an offence involving grabbing a woman by the hair at Swansea railway station and kneeing her in the face. She was released on June 8, just days before the pub attack. Ten days after the assault, Ross was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for thefts of meat and other items from shops around Swansea.
Andrew Evans, for Ross, said her past compliance with community-based sentences had been "extremely poor" but added she had told him she was "at long last" motivated to deal with her alcohol problems. With a one-third discount for her guilty plea, Recorder Christian Jowett sentenced Ross to 28 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to complete an accredited programme and a rehabilitation course and was made subject to a 120-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement.
