A MOTHER-OF-TWO who was scarred for life when a thug threw a bottle in a Dundee nightclub has blasted the “joke” of a sentence handed to him.
Debbie Strachan, 32, required dozens of stitches in her face after Frances Monaghan threw the glass object in Liquid nightclub.
Today, Monaghan, 27, of Ochil Crescent, Stirling, was ordered to pay Debbie £750 compensation and has to complete 255 hours of unpaid work within the community.
But Debbie told the Tele she had hoped for a stronger sentence, given the amount of physical and mental turmoil she had experienced following the attack.
She said: “I feel really disappointed that they didn’t make an example of him.
“I think that is the problem with the law, nobody is scared of it and that’s why the country is going down the pan.
“I thought it would have been a lot worse than that — £750 to be paid to me is nothing. I think it’s an absolute joke.
“He is a violent person and he has just walked away scot free. If he went to prison he would have learned some sort of lesson.
“Even to this day, I struggle to come to terms with what happened. I have to look in the mirror every day, I have to look at the scars every day.
“It’s not just the physical side of things, it’s the mental side too. It took a lot away from my relationship with my husband.”
Debbie, of Stirling, had travelled through to Dundee for a night out with pals when suddenly the atmosphere turned sour in Liquid last March.
Fiscal depute Muhammad Sadiq told Dundee Sheriff Court today that Monaghan had tried to bottle someone else during a mass rammy at the club but ended up hitting Debbie instead.
Defence lawyer Frazer McCreadie said in the wake of what happened, Monaghan was “remorseful”. He said: “It is something he very much regrets. He is remorseful in relation to this incident.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown said: “Your reckless conduct had a very serious consequence for this young woman.”
Since the incident, Debbie has launched a petition to try to ban all glass from nightclubs.
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