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A woman nearly blinded after she was smashed in the face with a glass today told how she tracked down her attacker on Facebook after a failed police investigation.
Jennifer Wilson was left lying on a night club dance floor with “blood shooting” from her wound after Ashleigh Holliman rammed a pint glass into her face in an unprovoked attack. The 20-year-old tanning salon receptionist suffered a gash just a centimetre below her left eye.
Holliman, 22, fled without being identified after bouncers failed to detain her. Police later said CCTV from the Walkabout bar in Watford, Hertfordshire, was not clear and evidence had been cleaned from the dance floor by staff.
But Miss Wilson, who has been left with an inch-long scar, took charge of the investigation herself and managed to find Holliman on Facebook.
Her attacker was with a male friend at the time of the March attack. Miss Wilson vaguely knew him from Facebook, so searched through 200 of his friends on the social networking site until she came across a photograph of Holliman.
Miss Wilson, from Oxhey, Hertfordshire, tracked down her address through a mutual friend on the site and then gave it to police. Holliman, of Croxley Green, was out when officers arrived and they then asked Miss Wilson if she could find out where she worked.
Miss Wilson went back onto Facebook and discovered she was a hairdresser.
Holliman was arrested at work the next day. Miss Wilson then picked her out from an identity parade.
Holliman admitted actual bodily harm at St Albans crown court last week and was sentenced to 120 hours community service. Miss Wilson was awarded £2,400. She said: “I had to do the police's job for them and track this girl down. I gave them all the information to find her but they even had the cheek to ask me to find out where she worked. You would expect the police to be able to find out someone's work address.”
Miss Wilson, who spent two hours at Watford General Hospital following the attack, added: “This girl had been glaring at me all night. Then I was dancing with friends and she slammed the glass into my face. I remember putting my hand up to my face. I then realised she had really hurt me — there was blood shooting from the wound.
“I decided to try and track her down because I didn't deserve what she did.”
A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokeswoman said: “Police were called 2.10am on Saturday March 21 to reports that a 20-year-old girl had been assaulted at Walkabout bar in Watford Town Centre.
“The incident had happened at 12.45am that morning and the victim said she thought she knew who it was.
“She requested police go to see her after 9am later that day, once she was out of hospital.
“Officers did this. Prior to police attendance the victim had made enquiries of her own and tracked down the offender on Facebook. She passed this information on to officers.
“Meanwhile officers also conducted other investigations of the offence, including viewing CCTV at the bar and identifying witnesses who we interviewed.
“Officers followed up the lead of the named person and other leads before arresting a woman on April 1.”
Reader views (15)
She should be spending 120 years in prison, not 120 hours doing community service. What kind of person can even think of committing this type of crime. Lock her up and throw away the key to deter others. The justice system is failing law abiding citizens. No wonder 1 in 9 British people want to leave the UK.
- Frank, Copenhagen, Denmark, 18/11/2009 16:49
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The question remains why this individual only received community service? This was a violent crime and the punishment should fit.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 18/11/2009 16:45
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120 hours community service for ABH is a real deterrent especially when those 120 hours will probably be spent sitting around doing nothing.
- Bob, Cheam, 18/11/2009 16:38
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- Hertfordshire Constabulary Press Office, Hertfordshire
Maybe you should spend more money on police rather than employing a press officer to waste tax payers money searching the internet for stories.
- Dc, London, 18/11/2009 16:29
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Please find below our statement:
A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokeswoman said: “Police were called 2.10am on Saturday March 21 to reports that a 20-year-old girl had been assaulted at Walkabout bar in Watford Town Centre.
“The incident had happened at 12.45am that morning and the victim said she thought she knew who it was.
“She requested police go to see her after 9am later that day, once she was out of hospital.
“Officers did this. Prior to police attendance the victim had made enquiries of her own and tracked down the offender on Facebook. She passed this information on to officers.
“Meanwhile officers also conducted other investigations of the offence, including viewing CCTV at the bar and identifying witnesses who we interviewed.
“Officers followed up the lead of the named person and other leads before arresting a woman on April 1.”
- Hertfordshire Constabulary Press Office, Hertfordshire, 18/11/2009 15:39
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I do not know what is the most appalling aspect of the failed Justice system; The lethargy of the Police or the dreadfully light sentence.
120 hours community service??? What a joke, do these Judges live in the real world?
GBH = Prison.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 18/11/2009 14:39
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Must agree with Mike Mathiens that community service for an unprovoked assault is pathetic.
It's also pathetic that the resources available to the police couldn't track this female thug and the assaulted girl had to do their job for them.
- George, Cambridge UK, 18/11/2009 14:36
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An animal like Holliman should be doing some serious time not 120 hours giving old ladies blue rinses. If I had done the police's job for them I'd be very tempted to mete my own justice out too with pathetic sentencing like that.
- Squiz, Islington, 18/11/2009 14:19
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The police should be ashamed of themselves and as for Holliman, she sounds like a vicious person who would not be determined from doing the same thing again by 120hrs of CS! Ms Wilson should ask for a rebate on her council tax for her diy policing.
- Sally, UK, 18/11/2009 14:06
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What a country we live in.
- P Staker, London, 18/11/2009 13:59
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Good for you Jennifer Wilson! Shame on the police and BIG question mark over yet another failure of omnipresent CCTV to assist.
- Adam, London, UK, 18/11/2009 13:58
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Mike, yes 120 hours is shocking. The normal sentence for this is 20 hours community service. The justice system in the U.K. is a total fiasco and farce.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 18/11/2009 13:55
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perhaps this girl could give lessons on how to be detectives to the police force because they seem clueless well done girl
- Anon, leicestershire, 18/11/2009 13:46
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A few hours of community work? Hardy a sentence for such a crime.
- Danny, Victoria, BC, 18/11/2009 13:34
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Just 120 hours community service for an unprovoked attack? Shocking.
- Mike Mathiens, London, 18/11/2009 13:07
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