British soldier who ‘slashed pal’s throat’ with broken bottle in Magaluf nightclub avoids jail
A FEMALE Brit soldier who was charged over a glass attack in a Magaluf nightclub has avoided prison and let off with a £780 fine.
Sydney Cole, 24, was arrested when her Lance Corporal pal Sarah Garrity was left in intensive care after losing four pints of blood and needing 14 stitches to a neck wound.
On April 15, 2019, witnesses told cops Cole had thrown a glass directly at Sarah’s neck during a row at Magaluf’s Banana’s nightclub after an all-day drinking session.
Cole insisted after her arrest her holiday pal was hurt in an accident when she threw the glass on the floor during the fight with her and shards from it hit Sarah in the neck.
The pair were sharing a hotel room with another squaddie friend called Deborah Ferguson.
Sarah spent more than 24 hours in intensive care in a hospital in Majorca and three days in a general ward before being discharged.
Earlier this year, Spanish state prosecutors warned Cole she could be jailed for three years after being charged with a crime of wounding despite her victim’s refusal to press charges.
But yesterday, the 24-year-old avoided prison after confessing to hurting Sarah as part of a plea bargain deal.
Cole has been told to pay her fine at the rate of €5 a day over six months – a total of €900 or £780.
Cole, who was serving in the Adjutant General’s Corps based at Fort George Barracks in Inverness at the time of the incident, admitted wrongdoing at the Provincial Court of Palma in Majorca.
She spoke briefly through a translator to say she understood and accepted the agreement.
Cole was allowed to appear via video link rather than having to travel to the island for the brief half-hour hearing.
“I’m happy with the way this case has been resolved and Sydney is very happy obviously not to be going to prison, Cole’s lawyer Gloria Olmos said after the hearing.
“A fine is the lowest punishment she could have got and if this had gone to a full trial she would have been looking at a possible three-year prison sentence if convicted.”
Court officials confirmed at the time Cole was being investigated by a court in Palma on suspicion of wounding her friend with a dangerous weapon – a crime which carries a prison sentence in Spain of up to five years.
Prosecutors ended up confirming they were seeking a three-year prison sentence over the 2019 incident after she was formally charged in an indictment made public in August.
The indictment was drafted after an international arrest warrant was issued for Cole following failed attempts to inform her she was wanted to answer fresh questions under oath.
The long-running judicial investigation had been slowed by the Covid pandemic.
The arrest warrant was later withdrawn after she hired a new lawyer who negotiated her closed-doors court appearance in Palma earlier this year.
Hertfordshire-born Cole is thought to have left the Army and started work for a private security firm.
It is understood she was not asked about her job status during Friday’s plea bargain deal court hearing.
A relative of Sarah’s told the Sunday People in November 2020 Cole had yet to apologise and the Army had let her stay on the same base for 11 months afterwards.
“Sarah told the police not to charge Cole because she didn’t want to see a young girl banged up in a jail abroad,” an insider told the paper.
“She expected her to be full of remorse but didn’t even get an apology.”
The source also claimed Army bosses told Sarah to “get on with it” when she asked them to consider moving Cole after she got back to work three months later at the Fort George barracks base.
“We don’t feel the Army has looked after our girl,” one of Sarah’s family members said.
Cole is said to have left after having a baby and being given an Army house.
An Army spokesman said at the time: “An investigation is ongoing following an incident with a British soldier in Spain last year.
“We take our duty of care to personnel very seriously. It would be inappropriate to comment further.”