A GIRLS' night out led to a woman leaving her friend blinded in one eye, a court heard yesterday.
Sonya Russ punched Wendy Collins, her friend for ten years, with a heavily-ringed fist, permanently damaging the optic nerve in her left eye.
They were in a group of women friends who had been drinking heavily in the pubs in Spennymoor, County Durham, on a Friday night, said Paul Cleasby, prosecuting.
Mother-of-three Russ, 34, felt devastated by what happened and vowed to curb her drinking, which had led her into trouble before, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Russ claimed that Ms Collins slapped her first.
But Mr Cleasby said: "Russ punched her in the face with a clenched fist and she conceded that she wore a lot of rings."
Russ, who had a previous conviction for a pub assault in 2001, had a son who needed special care and he would suffer if she was jailed, the court heard.
The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox QC, told Russ: "It is only for the sake of your ten-year-old son that I am not going to send you to prison today.
"But your blinding your friend, which in effect you have done, is hardly looking after your ten-year-old."
Russ, of Lyne Road, Spennymoor, was given an 18- month jail sentence suspended for two years with a supervision order after she admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on August 13 last year.
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