A hairdresser who was 'high as a kite' on cocaine when she smashed a champagne glass into a father's face in a completely unprovoked attack was today spared jail because she is pregnant.

Becky Hulme, 25, missed Paul Pittuck's eye by millimetres when she rammed the glass into his face in the VIP area of the exclusive Faces Bar in Chelmsford, Essex.

The victim - who was there for a festive celebration with his wife and the parents of a youth football team which he runs - was given 15 stitches above his right eye by paramedics who were called to the scene.

Hairdresser Becky Hulme (left) smashed a champagne glass into Paul Pittuck's face (right) in a completely unprovoked attack while 'high as a kite' on cocaine - but has been spared jail

Although his sight was not affected, Mr Pittuck says he was so haunted by the attack that he now lives in fear of his safety, spending his life 'looking over his shoulder' in case 'somebody wants to hurt me or someone I love for no reason'.

The 42-year-old added in a victim impact statement that his confidence had been shattered and that his wife has had to undergo counselling to recover from what she witnessed.

Hulme admitted the attack at a previous hearing, but today claimed she had only 'reacted' when the victim made her feel 'uncomfortable' and came 'close' to her.

But the court heard the young woman was 'high as a kite' when she launched the attack and that the father-of-three was in 'no way to blame'.

Despite this, a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court today spared Hulme jail because of her age and because she is 17 weeks pregnant.

Hulme cried in the dock and gasped loudly when the judge told her she would walk free from court. She was ordered to complete 80 hours community service.

Mr Recorder Icah Peart QC said: 'I'm going to tell you straight away that I'm not going to sentence you to prison today.

'Your victim Mr Paul Pittuck had been enjoying an evening with his wife and friends when you hit him.

The judge today spared Hulme (pictured outside court today) jail because of her age and because she is 17 weeks pregnant

'When you felt him get close to you, you forcefully pushed him away without realising that you still had a champagne glass in your hand.

'I take into account your age, the fact that you are pregnant and that your child is due in October.'

After the sentence, Mr Pittuck blasted the sentence as a 'joke'.

'It is absolutely appalling - it is effectively a few days of community service for taking Class A drugs and crushing a glass in my eye,' he said.

'While we have been suffering and had our lives turned completely upside down, she has shown no remorse.

'It is an absolute joke. If the roles were reversed, and I had done it to her, it would be a very different story.'

His wife Charlotte added that she was 'disappointed' and also questioned whether the outcome would have been different if a man had attacked a woman.

Speaking to MailOnline, she said: 'First time offence or not, this was a savage crime that we feel deserves a more severe punishment. Our family will live with the effects of this attack for years to come.

‘I am very disappointed that her pregnancy has helped her avoid a prison sentence. Your first pregnancy should be an exciting time and not one where you have a threat of prison hanging over you.

‘I also worry that inequality has played a part here because it was a women who did this to a man. She has said that she felt vulnerable, but it was her drug taking that made her feel paranoid.'

She added: ‘When you have a weapon such as a glass and you use it unprovoked, it doesn't matter your gender you are unable to defend yourself against this type of attack.’

During the hearing, prosecutor Karl Volz told the court how both Mr Pittuck and the defendant had been in a relatively busy area in separate parties when the incident unfolded in December 2016.

He told the judge how a witness described Hulme as being 'as high as a kite'.

After she was arrested, Hulme told police in a statement that she felt as though she was 'being watched'.

Hulme (left and right) admitted the attack but claimed she had reacted when the victim made her feel 'uncomfortable'

On the day of the attack, Hulme tweeted to say she was excited about the night ahead with her colleagues

'At some point I felt the complainant get close to me and I reacted,' she said.

But the prosecutor said the incident was 'in no way his fault and he is no way to blame'.

Mr Volz said Hulme had been drinking and had also taken a 'small amount of cocaine' when she claimed to see her victim's 'ill-motive'.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Pittuck had described how he was enjoying a celebratory night out with his group when Hulme struck.

He said: 'I would never have imagined the evening would have ended the way it did in the most distressing of circumstances, which will stay with me, my wife and the parents in our group, for the rest of our lives.'

Mr Pittuck (shown with his injury, above) said he now lives in fear of his safety and spends his life 'looking over his shoulder

The managing director said he has not only been left with physical scars, but had also suffered in his everyday life.

'The fear and the vulnerability I felt after the attack is indescribable,' he said.

'To be thrust into a situation - which was completely out of my control - with the sheer amount of blood and my wife not knowing whether I had been blinded... I cannot put into words those feelings of vulnerability that I felt and still feel.'

He said one of the hardest parts was seeing the 'horror and upset' in his children's faces when they saw the injuries.

'On seeing me they ran out the room in tears and were physically shaking,' he said.

'My wife comforted them all the time she was crying too. That look in their face will never leave me.'

He said his wife has spoken to a psychologist and that they both 'relive the night physically and mentally'.

'Before this unprovoked attack I was a confident outgoing man, who runs a large successful family business,' he added.

'My confidence has been severely affected and I am not that out going person anymore which frustrates me.

'I am fearful for my three young children when they grow up and start going out themselves because I was that victim of a senseless and vicious crime.

The attack took place in the VIP area of the exclusive Faces Bar in Chelmsford, Essex (pictured)

'I will forever have a scar that is there for me and others to see but the effects on me and my family run deeper.'

At an earlier hearing, Hulme, who works at Westwood Hairdressing in Chelmsford, Essex, admitted wounding and possession of 0.5g cocaine.

She had been charged with wounding with intent but the court heard her guilty plea for the lesser charge was accepted by the prosecution.

Evelyn Hicks, defending, said Hulme had no criminal record and that her judgement had been 'clouded' by the alcohol and drugs.

She added: 'She hides behind nothing from what you have heard.

'Ms Hulme was in a night out, she consumed a small amount of cocaine, the high as a kite is how people perceived her, but she does not hide from the fact that she had taken it.

'She accepts that that clouded her judgement and also the alcohol she consumed during the course of the evening.'

The judge handed Hulme, of Chelmsford, Essex, a 15-month jail term, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Pittuck added that it was not true that her husband had gone close to Hulme.

She added: ‘The police have told us we had no contact with Miss Hulme whatsoever during the evening. They reviewed CCTV evidence from the bar and this was the our first point of contact with her.

‘Paul would not even been able to pick her out of a line up because he didn't know who she was or what she looked like given the fact she blindsided him with a glass.

'I was with him all night and neither he, nor the rest of us had any contact with her at any point. I was in no way concerned by any of his behaviour.

'The drugs would have made her paranoid and she is trying to justify her disposable actions.'