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A young Cheltenham woman was jailed on Friday for six years after 'slicing open' an off-duty paramedic's face.

At the end of a four-day trial, Emily Chew, of Devonshire Street, was unanimously convicted by a jury of assaulting Eoin O'Flarhartaigh with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm on May 6 last year.

Having heard evidence from two expert witnesses who disagreed about how a 'great gaping wound' was caused to Mr O'Flarhartaigh's face, the judge said he could not be certain Chew, 23, had used a pocket knife down as the prosecution alleged.

Forensic scientist Dr Deryk James told Gloucester Crown Court he did not believe the injury was caused by a piece of pottery, as Chew had claimed.

The judge, Recorder Edward Burgess QC, said: “I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt she used a knife, but I will sentence her on the basis that she picked up a sharp piece of ceramics and used that to inflict the grievous harm she intended.”

Read the original story on Gloucestershire Live here.

How the incident unfolded

The jury of seven women and five men heard that Mr O'Flarhartaigh, a paramedic, had been out socialising with colleagues in Cheltenham, a town he said he did not know very well.

He became detached from his group, and accepted that over the course of the evening he got very drunk.

In the early hours of the morning, on The Promenade, he met Chew and her group of friends, having no prior knowledge of them before, he said.

The went to a McDonalds for food, and then at 6.38am, as shown on CCTV, the group went to a Nisa store where Mr O'Flarhartaigh bought rum, cola and cigarettes, before they went to Ms Chew's flat on Devonshire street.

All witnesses agreed that the males drank heavily, but Chew, the lone female, maintained she was not much of a drinker and was sipping slowly.

She said that she was not drunk but tipsy.

She described the way the men were drinking as making her 'cringe'.

At some stage the mood in her flat soured, the court heard.

Chew claimed that Mr O'Flarhartaigh kept coming over to her and touching her.

“I told him five times, 'You need to stop touching me,'” she said in evidence.

She claimed the final straw was when he touched her 'inner thigh.'

This was something that Mr O'Flarhartaigh disputed he 'would never do' although he accepted due to the alcohol and being assaulted his memory of events was 'vague' and limited to flashbacks.

''I'll f****** kill you'

It was established that Mr O'Flarhartaigh left the flat - he said it was of his own accord after he had been punched, but witnesses claim he was forcibly ejected.

He was then seen on CCTV standing on the corner of Devonshire Street and the High Street near Chew's flat.

Mr O'Flarhartaigh said he was disorientated due to being punched, the alcohol and not knowing Cheltenham.

CCTV footage showed one of Chew's friends 'striding towards' Mr O'Flarhartaigh and punching him.

Prosecutor Janine Wood told the jury that the group in Chew's flat had taken umbrage that Mr O'Flarhartaigh would not leave the area and were throwing items from the flat window towards him such as eggs, plates and cups.

Mrs Wood said Chew then shouted from the window: “If you don't f**k off now, Ill come down. I'll f**king kill you.”

“She was described as raging,” Mrs Wood said, “throwing eggs, smashed china and other items.”

“Five minutes later she is seen striding towards him,” Mrs Wood said, “She then raises her right arm, has an item in her hand.

“She makes contact with his left cheek and strikes him.”

One of her party said they saw her return to the flat with a knife in her hand. However, Chew maintained that she had picked up a piece of pottery from the floor to 'harden' her punch.

“I am not going to tell you falsely,” she said, “I took about three of four steps, I saw it, picked it up.

“I walked in a straight line. I remember it clear as day.

“It was right in front of me, It was in the road.

“I did not pick it up to use as a weapon,” she told the jury, “I thought in my head it might harden my punch.

“I went straight towards him and punched him this with this in my hand,” she said.

A severe injury

Mr O'Flarhartaigh suffered a severe injury to his face with a scar still visible over a year later, running from his ear to his mouth on his left cheek.

In a victim impact statement the court heard how this injury had 'a profound' effect on him.

He said that it had made his work as a paramedic more difficult as 'every second client asks me about it'.

He said that the elderly seemed to be frightened of him, and he felt that people made judgements about his character because of the livid scar.

“People see my scar and think I am a troublemaker,” he said.

He added that in his work he “attends drunk females, and I worry it could be her.

“It makes me feel unsafe at work, and reluctant to go out.”

The judge ruled: “The reactions of others to him will persist. It is visible scarring on the face.”

Defence lawyer, Stephen Dent, told the judge that Chew had a troubled upbringing, suffering abuse.

This meant that she did not react well to people touching her, he said.

“The provocation was meaningful. She regarded that sort of touching very seriously in her adult life,” the barrister told the judge.

The judge observed: “There is absolutely no reason at all why she went downstairs to confront him as she did.

“He presented no threat to her whatsoever. She is angry because he hasn't gone away, and throwing items at him has failed.”

Mr Dent said: “She expresses that she is devastated about what happened to Mr O'Flarhartaigh.”

“I have to balance that remorse against the fact that she had a trial,” the judge replied.

The judge's final remarks

Imposing a six year jail term, the judge said to Chew, who had been crying since the verdict was announced: “I am not going to take very long over this because you are in a state of some distress.

“You were out of control. He posed absolutely no threat. What you did was terrible.

“I have seen the photograph of a great gaping wound across his face.

“It has had a profound effect on him,” the judge said, “it provokes questions based on a wholly false premise of his character.

“You are immature and have mental health issues,” the judge noted, “and the offence was over a year ago.

“But you did not have the courage to admit what you had done. You sought to take your chances, and you have been convicted rightly.

“I cannot be sure that you took a knife with you,” he ruled, “but you deliberately used the pottery to inflict a serious injury as you were in a rage with him.

“You are volatile and unpredictable.

“You showed this with this man,” the judge said adding, “He will pay the price for the rest of his life.

“You will pay the price now.”