Woman glassed her own mum on all-day drinking ‘bender’
A woman who smashed a glass in her mum’s face after they fell out following an all-day drinking ‘bender’ has been spared jail.
Jade Rhodes, 29, had downed Tequila Sunrise cocktails and pints of Stella Artois before leaving her mother Joanne nursing a black eye and cuts to her face following the attack at a bar in Bury town centre on July 8.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Mrs Rhodes needed stitches to her eyeball – but later told police she wanted to forgive her daughter for the subsequent assault and even handed the judge a character reference on her behalf.
Judge Paul Lawton agreed to suspend the 12-month jail sentence, saying Rhodes’ background was ‘one of the most tragic’ he had ever read about.
Prosecutor Sarah Wait earlier told the court that the mother and daughter, who had been out with a larger group, got into a heated argument at around 6.30pm.
She said: ‘The defendant’s mother sat up and grabbed the defendant by her face.
‘She then sat back and shortly after the defendant sat back up, took the pint glass she had been drinking from and smashed it in her mother’s face. It was not witnessed by other parties.
‘The defendant’s mother had a black eye, a cut cheek and stitches were required on her eyeball. The defendant said she had no memory of the incident when interviewed by police.’
Rhodes, from Whitefield, near Bury, has seven previous convictions for assault and was handed a 12-week suspended sentence just weeks earlier for attacking an emergency worker.
She admitted GBH and was handed a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered to undergo 25 days’ rehabilitation.
Defending, Katie Laverty said her mum ‘was the initial aggressor’, but added that Rhodes acknowledges ‘her actions were unacceptable’.
She said: ‘When she was arrested she asked after her mother and expressed remorse. She was visibly upset when shown the CCTV and apologised saying she was an idiot and was sorry.
‘Her mother has forgiven her and says it was out of character.’
Judge Lawton told Rhodes: ‘On July 8 this year after a bender with your mother you glassed her in the face.
‘That sort of behaviour would normally result in immediate custody and you were also subject to a suspended sentence at the time. However, your background is one of the most tragic I have ever read about.
‘You had medical conditions as a child and your personal life is terrible which has unsurprisingly led to mental health issues.
‘However, the way of dealing with that isn’t through a Tequila Sunrise or a pint of Stella Artois.
‘Instead you should use the services that are available to you. You are someone who should not touch alcohol she whether or not you do in future will determine whether or not we meet again.
‘This is in your hands. Think about their next time you think about going out drinking cocktails and lager.’
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