A 19-YEAR-OLD man who threw a bottle at a woman, hitting her in the face and injuring both her eyes, has been told he could have gone to prison if he was older.
Ryan James Le Monnier was instead sentenced to 90 hours of community service and put on probation for a year.
Legal adviser Paul Lee, prosecuting, showed the Magistrate’s Court CCTV footage of the incident, which took place outside the Grand Hotel on the evening of 20 May, when Le Monnier was seen throwing the bottle at the woman and hitting her squarely in the face.
Mr Lee also showed photos of the woman’s face after the attack. The victim had abrasions and bruising to each eye, but, the court hard, she had no lasting damage to her eyesight.
Le Monnier pleaded guilty to grave and criminal assault, and Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, said of the attack: “It was completely unplanned. It was spur of the moment. He accepts that he was intoxicated at the time and it was completely inappropriate.”
She said the victim seemed to have made some hurtful comments to Le Monnier before the incident, but added: “He is disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour. He needs to address his alcohol usage.”
Assistant Magistrate Sarah Fitz told Le Monnier: “If the bottle had broken it could have caused quite serious injuries.”
She said she was not sending him to jail because of his young age and his early guilty plea, but warned him: “It really is time for you to get a grip on your life.
“The older you become, the more serious your offending would be and you could be going to prison.”
She barred him from pubs and nightclubs for three months and said: “I do hope this is the last time we see you in court.”
