A YOUNG mother who lost an eye after being glassed has criticised prison officials for releasing her attacker after only five months.

Michelle Passmore, 22, is to be released on a tag in September after serving less than half of an 18-month sentence for grievous bodily harm.

Nadia Gibany has a prosthetic eye and has needed counselling after being glassed in the Aruba nightclub, Redcar, last October.

Passmore, of Dorset Road, Guisborough, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court in April, but her victim has been told she is soon to be released after serving two months in a secure unit and spending the remaining three in an open prison.

Ms Gibany, a mother-of-one from Thorntree, in Middlesbrough, said: "We went mad. We knew that she would only serve half of her sentence.

"But we still thought nine months in prison would not be very nice. But after five months, with three in a relaxed environment, we cannot believe it. She's done something like that and gets away with it."

Passmore has been given permission to be released on tag by the prison governor, spending the rest of her sentence on probation.

Ms Gibany added: "To me, this is not justice. They told me she should have a chance to have a normal life, but I cannot have a normal life, so why should she?"

A Home Office spokesman said offenders were assessed before being released on tag, and faced a curfew, normally from 7pm to 7am. He added: "Less than two per cent of offenders released on home detention curfew commit a further offence during the tagged period."