A woman admitted beating a total stranger unconscious in Liverpool city centre – leaving her forced to wear make-up to conceal a facial scar.
Carla Ennis, 32, attacked Joanne Gaskell when the 21-year-old was on a night out with friends in the Dale Street area on November 13, 2014.
Miss Gaskell was leaving The Jupiter pub in Hackins Hey when she was set upon by the defendant, who pulled her by the hair to the ground.
Joanne, now 22, from Widnes, suffered a cut going through her eyebrow when she was kicked by Ennis.
The cut required stitches and left a scar.
Ennis, of Eastern Avenue, Speke, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today where she admitted unlawful wounding.
She spoke only to confirm her personal details and enter her guilty plea.
Anya Horwood, prosecuting, said Ennis had believed she was going to be attacked by another person.
However, she said this was not Miss Gaskell – who offered her no threat whatsoever.
Ms Horwood said: “None of the victim’s conduct would have caused her to feel any threat.”
Lloyd Morgan, defending Ennis, said his client agreed Miss Gaskell was an innocent victim.
22 year old Joanne Gaskell from Widnes, was beaten in an unprovoked attack in Liverpool city centre in 2014, leaving her with a scar above her eye.
Mr Morgan said Ennis was a person of past good character, with no previous convictions.
He requested pre-sentence and psychiatric reports before she was sentenced, adding: “She is under the care of a psychiatrist.”
Judge Anil Murray adjourned sentencing until February 4 and remanded Ennis on bail.
He said: “Don’t read anything into the fact you have been granted bail.
“All options are open and that might include an immediate prison sentence.”
A warrant was issued for Ennis’s arrest last year after she failed to attend a hearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
Miss Gaskell previously told the ECHO that she was left with recurring nightmares and social anxiety after the attack.
The victim, whose scar has begun to heal, received counselling to try and help her get over the incident.
She said: “I remember her pulling my hair with such force, from behind and punching me in the face.
22 year old Joanne Gaskell from Widnes, was beaten in an unprovoked attack in Liverpool city centre in 2014, leaving her with a scar above her eye.
“The next thing I remember is coming round, realising where I was and what had happened and trying to get up off the ground and run away from the woman who attacked me.”
Miss Gaskell, who works as a media and communications assistant at Everton FC, said the attack had changed her life.
She said: “I’m not a girly girl, so I never used to wear make-up. But know I feel forced to wear it every day.
“I feel like everyone is looking at my scar. Every time I look in the mirror, it’s the first thing I see and it’s a constant reminder.
“When I’m in a pub I can’t relax and let go. The attack was so random that I’m paranoid something like that could happen again. I can’t control what other people might do and that scares me.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/