Hartlepool alcoholic smashed glass over drinking pal's head

Mary Douglas, who has been an alcoholic since she was 15-years-old, befriended her 63-year-old victim and would regularly stay at his home whether he wanted her too or not, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The man finally got fed up with her erratic drunken behaviour when she started pestering him to let her into his Hartlepool home despite her being on bail for attacking him on October 1 this year.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the violence erupted when Douglas wanted to continue drinking and her victim had had enough.

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She said the man was scared that the defendant would become agitated and angry again when she had consumed too much booze.

“He described their relationship as toxic and her behaviour changed when she was drinking,” she said. “He frequently told her that she wasn’t welcome – she simply ignored him.”

Miss Atkinson on the day of the attack, the defendant’s erratic escalated as she drank more and more resulting in her violently attacking her friend.

She added: “She picked up the glass and smashed it over his head leaving him with blood coming out of a wound that required five staples to close.”

The court heard how she ten convictions for 18 offences, including assaulting an emergency worker.

Douglas, of Hartley Close, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to wounding following the incident on October 1 and harassment between January 1 and October 21 this year.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said his client had been an alcoholic since she was a teenager and lived a ‘chaotic lifestyle’.

He added: “She has suffered from this illness since she was 15. She has shown no willingness to desist with her drinking.”

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Recorder Ian Mullarkey locked Douglas up for a total of 14 months for both offences.

He said: “You have been given every opportunity to address your alcohol problem, you have been given a number of court orders over the years, you simply aren’t complying with the assistance that you are being provided with.

“These offences were both committed when you were serving a community order and a conditional discharge.”