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A grinning offender posed with her thumbs up and bragged “guess who’s back” just minutes after being sentenced for her part in a gang attack which left the victim blinded in one eye.

Sophie Sheldon was spared jail for punching and kicking a stranger in the shocking assault, because her mum had died.

The gloating salon worker posed with her thumbs up outside court after her two fellow assailants were jailed, then posted the image on Facebook.

Watch the sickening gang attack which left man blinded in one eye

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Sheldon, 20, from Pontypool, was caught on CCTV punching Algerian Ismail Bensalaman, who was blinded in one eye after he was hit in the face with his belt by Simeon Evans and Jack Garghan.

Mr Bensalaman has since spoken of his bitterness towards his attackers, and said: "No amount of time in prison or compensation could ever replace my eye. I feel like my life is over."

'Sophie's back so tell your friends'

Sheldon received a suspended sentence after Birmingham Crown Court heard her estranged mum had committed suicide following a row with her just hours before the alcohol fuelled attack in Birmingham city centre.

Along with the jubilant photos, Sheldon updated her Facebook status saying: “Guess who’s back again, Sophie’s back so tell your friends.”

She later told friends she was putting her feet up for a “well deserved” glass of wine.

The trio set about Mr Bensalaman as he tried to get into a taxi after he left a nightclub on Bristol Road at about 6am on January 26 last year.

Dad-of-two Evans claimed the cab was his.

A row erupted, despite Mr Bensalaman telling him that he could take the taxi.

Garghan then came to the aid of Evans, and the pair began raining blows on the victim.

Graphic CCTV footage shows Mr Bensalaman trying to run away.

He pulled his belt from his trousers to defend himself.

As he fell to the floor Evans and Garghan were filmed kicking and punching him to the head.

They hit him in the face with his belt strap - the tip of which caught him in his left eye causing him to lose his sight.

Sheldon, of Samson’s Avenue, Pontypool, delivered at least four punches and a kick to Mr Bensalaman as he lay on the ground.

She pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Lowri Wynn-Morgan, defending the salon worker, said the attack had been out of character for her and had to be seen against the “upsetting and tragic circumstances”.

Ms Wynn-Morgan told the court: “When she (Sheldon) saw the CCTV she was shocked and disgusted by her behaviour.

“She demonstrated immediate remorse and also expressed a significant degree of empathy for the victim.”

His Honour Judge Paul Farrer Judge Farrer sentenced her to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

'You are hard working, have potential and are well thought of'

She was also placed under curfew for six months.

Judge Farrer told Sheldon: “It is plain you acted out of character against a very particular background.

“Unwisely, you went to, in effect, drown your sorrows.

“The violence you used was minimal and probably caused no injury.

“You did not intend to cause serious injury but participated foreseeing others might.

“You are hard-working, have potential and are well thought of.

“It is very likely you will never offend in the future and that allows me to take an exceptional course.”

Evans, 30, of Kempson Road, Bromford, was jailed for four-years-and-five months after pleading guilty to GBH with intent; and former catering student Garghan, 24, of Devon Road, Rubery was jailed for four-and-a-half years after being found guilty of the same offence after a trial in December.

Jailing the men, the judge said Evans, who was jailed for causing GBH in 2006, was the principal offender and had intended to cause serious harm.

He described both Evans and Gargan as devoted fathers.

“This is undoubtedly a sad case,” Judge Farrer said.

“(The victim) suffered a serious injury, this was a life changing injury.

“Unsurprisingly it will have a big impact on his life.

“You were plainly intent upon violence.”