Estate agent who smashed glass in man's face avoids jail... even though it was her 18th court appearance for violence



Yasmin Thomas attacked Ronnie Lee with broken glass in Bournemouth club

She has 17 previous convictions for assault and battery, court heard

Judge John Harrow said her criminal history was 'breathtaking'

But she has been given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years



Also handed 80 hours’ community service after pleading guilty to ABH

Yasmin Thomas, 21, attacked Ronnie Lee with broken glass, leaving him with a deep gash just millimetres from his eye

A woman who smashed a broken glass into a stranger’s face in a nightclub has been spared jail – despite it being her 18th conviction for assault.

Estate agent Yasmin Thomas, 21, left her male victim with serious eye injuries after she lunged at him with the potentially lethal object.

A court heard she has already been convicted for 17 crimes of assault and battery.

A judge branded Thomas’s criminal history ‘breathtaking’ and one of the worst he had ever seen of a woman her age.

But the female thug escaped with a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, and 80 hours community service after pleading guilty to a charge of causing actual bodily harm.

She was also ordered to attend anger management classes.

Thomas attacked Ronnie Lee, whom she did not know, in Bar So nightclub in Bournemouth town centre after a row over an e-cigarette.

Thomas’s friend had snatched it from a friend of Mr Lee, and had thrown it on the floor.

Thomas then picked it up and thrust the device at Mr Lee, demanding: ‘Are you not going to say thank you? Who do you think you are?’

She then lunged towards Mr Lee with a broken glass, causing a serious gash to his left eyelid and two smaller cuts to his face.

The injuries were so close to his eye that Mr Lee feared he would lose his sight.



Tiny shards of glass were later removed from his eye.

Prosecuting, Carolyn Branford-Wood told Bournemouth Crown Court: ‘Miss Thomas, with a glass in her hand, lunged towards Mr Lee, who felt a blow to his left eye and blood trickling down his face.’

The court was told that Mr Lee was ‘very lucky’ not to have suffered any permanent damage following the brutal attack.

Miss Branford-Wood said doctors initially feared he had suffered a fractured eye socket following the assault, which also left him needing stitches to the cut on his eyelid.

Thomas, who lives in Bournemouth, worked as a sales negotiator at Palmer Snell estate agency. Yesterday the company refused to confirm whether Thomas was still employed.

In mitigation, Audrey Archer said Thomas had been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder and had struggled to manage her temper from childhood.

She said she had sought help from mental health services prior to committing this offence and was waiting to undergo cognitive analytical therapy.



The Palmer Snell estate agents where Ms Thomas worked in Westbourne

Mrs Archer added that Thomas was trying to turn her life around and, prior to the attack, her last offence was committed in 2010.

Thomas was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge and £1,000 in compensation to Mr Lee.



Thomas has a record of violence which includes 17 previous convictions for assault

Sentencing her, judge John Harrow said: ‘You have a breathtaking record of violence, one of the worst I have ever seen from anyone your age.

‘It is not without a lot of hesitation and some reservations, I must confess, that I’m going to suspend that 12 month sentence for two years.’

He added: ‘Any offence at all will be sent back to this court and you will go straight down those steps to prison for at least 12 months.’

Yesterday residents of Bournemouth questioned the judge’s decision.



One wrote online: ‘So what do you actually have to do to go to prison these days?’

Another comment read: ‘It’s barbaric that she has avoided jail.



'She is a danger to the public and disgrace to society.’

Last night Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, said: ‘I am particularly concerned that the judge mentioned that he suspended [Thomas’s] sentence with ‘a lot of hesitation and some reservations’.



'He was clearly troubled by her record.’

Mr Ellwood, who was himself the target of a violent attack after he reprimanded a group of youths, added: ‘This is now the third case of this nature that I have seen in Bournemouth in recent months.

'So I will now be seeking a meeting with the Attorney General to discuss these particular cases and to ask whether changes to the law are necessary to ensure that cases of this kind do not occur again.’