Drunken business manager, 35, who smashed a gin glass in a barmaid’s face while being thrown out of a pub at closing time avoids jail but must pay £200 compensation
- Lynsey Ryan has been put on a pub exclusion list for two years
- Incident occurred at historic The Cheshire Cheese pub on October 30 last year
- Drunkenly smashed a glass at Danielle Birch in fit of rage while being thrown out
A business manager who drunkenly smashed a glass in a barmaid’s face has avoided jail, but ordered to pay £200 in compensation.
Lynsey Ryan, 35, thrust a gin glass at Danielle Birch in a fit of rage as she was being thrown out of The Cheshire Cheese pub in Warrington, Cheshire, on October 30 last year.
She was told to leave the premises at closing time following a bust up with three other women.
At Warrington magistrates court, Ryan admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was made subject of an exclusion order – banning her from entering the 269 year old pub until the year 2025.
She was also ordered to pay Mrs Birch £200 compensation.
The court heard how as a result of the incident, Mrs Birch, who is in her 30s, suffered a cut lip and had to undergo an X-ray in A&E due to concerns shards of glass were embedded in her mouth.
Lynsey Ryan (pictured) has been put on a pub exclusion list for two years after she drunkenly smashed a gin glass in barmaid Danielle Birch’s face whilst she was being thrown out of the pub
Victim Danielle Birch (pictured) was working behind the bar at the 18th century pub with her colleague, Robbie Dobson during the night of the attack
Lynsey Ryan pictured outside Warrington magistrates court. Alongside her suspended sentence, she was ordered to pay £154 in costs and victim surcharge
She also had to undertake dental treatment over fears she had been left with loose teeth.
Since the incident, she has made a full recovery but in a victim’s statement to the police she said: ‘What happened was unacceptable – I do not go to work to be assaulted.’
When quizzed by police, Ryan, who works as a client relations specialist for a web design company in Warrington, claimed that she has little recollection of the incident.
And when it was played back on CCTV, she was said to have held her head in her hands and cried.
The attack occurred while Mrs Birch was working behind the bar at the 18th century pub with her colleague, Robbie Dobson.
In prosecuting, Michael O’Kane explained that at 12.20am, when most of the customers had left, Mrs Birch was outside with the landlord when she heard a disturbance inside and confronted Ryan – who had earlier been involved in a confrontation with three women.
Mr O’Kane said: ‘Mrs Birch asked Lynsey Ryan to leave the pub but she refused.
‘She says that she stayed with the defendant asking her to leave the pub but at all times speaking with her, the defendant had a gin glass in her hand which had drink in it.
‘The defendant then stood up with the glass in her hand and pushed it towards her face. When the glass made contact with her face it smashed into bits.. Initially the victim didn’t realise what had happened and thought the defendant had thrown gin in her face.
‘But her friend Robbie pushed the defendant back and highlighted to her that Danielle had been glassed and her face was bleeding.’
Following the attack, Mrs Birch had to undergo dental treatment over fears she had been left with loose teeth
Ryan said that she was ‘disgusted with herself’ following the incident, saying she would ‘never want to make any body feel scared’
The prosecutor continued to say: ‘The defendant threw the stem of the glass into the bar, before Robbie pushed her away. The defendant was then removed from the pub. There were concerns that glass was embedded in Mrs Birch’s mouth but thankfully there wasn’t any found.
‘She then went to the dentist the next day as she was concerned she had loose teeth as a result of the assault. Thankfully there were no loose teeth. The victim confirmed that her bite did not feel normal as a result of the injury.
‘She was given advice about the possibility of receiving orthodontic treatment if she felt the problem persisted. There was the potential for a very serious injury but thankfully the injuries were relatively minor given what took place.’
In an interview with the police, mother of one Ryan who previously worked as a barmaid herself said she only found out what had happened when the pub landlord contacted her by Facebook Messenger.
She recalled going to the pub on October 30 with a friend and having a bottle of wine together.
She also admitted to being ‘merry’ but claimed that she had ‘blacked out’ at the time of the assault, as she refused to watch the CCTV footage of the incident.
The 35-year-old continued to say that she was ‘disgusted with herself’ saying she would ‘never want to make any body feel scared.’
Pictured is the Cheshire Cheese pub in Warrington where the attack occurred. The pub was established in 1754
In mitigation defence solicitor Gary Schooler said: ‘During the course of the interview it is clear to the police officer that she is extremely remorseful. She does not appear to have a very clear recollection of the incident but when it came to the point where the officer wanted to play the CCTV to her she became tearful and upset and said she did not want to watch it.
‘In fact, she does not view it. The general demeanour and tenor was one of regret, remorse and indeed shame. She consumed an amount of alcohol and there was some recollection of the evening, but she cannot explain why she cannot remember the incident itself.
‘She was somebody full of regret, shame and remorse. The footage itself was unclear whether we are dealing with a deliberate movement of the glass towards her face or an intention to throw the contents of the glass, namely the drink over the witness.’
He added that the mother ‘is not ordinarily disposed to this behaviour.’
Mr Schooler added: ‘Though a regrettable incident, it was over in seconds and was not a sustained and prolonged incident. My client used to work in a pub in Warrington herself so she is well aware from her own experience the difficulties the job can entail.’
Ryan was also sentenced to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, along with 60 hours of unpaid work and was told to pay £154 in costs and victim surcharge.
JP Mary Radcliffe told her: ‘We do consider this to be an assault aggravated, made worse, by several factors. There was the use of a gin glass which is considered as a weapon, the victim was simply doing her job working behind a bar and alarm and fear will have been caused amongst the patrons of the pub.
‘We are also surprised you have experience of doing her job and you cannot remember the incident because of the amount of alcohol you drank. However we do accept that you showed genuine remorse right from the beginning.’
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