Woman compensated after glass attack
A young woman has been compensated after she tracked down her attacker through the Facebook website.
The 20-year-old was horrifically injured when a 22-year-old struck her in the face with a pint glass in an unprovoked nightclub attack.
The tanning salon receptionist was left lying on the dance floor with personal injuries, including a deep gash just a centimetre below her left eye.
The attacker then fled the scene without being identified after bouncers failed to detain her. Police investigating the attack told the victim that CCTV from the club was not clear and evidence had been cleared away from the dance floor by staff.
But the injured woman from Oxhey, Herts, recognised one of her attacker’s friends who she knew vaguely from Facebook.
She looked through the social networking site and searched among 200 of the man's 'friends' until she found a photograph of her attacker.
She even tracked down her address through a mutual friend on the site and gave it to Hertfordshire Police.
Injured woman turns detective
However, the attacker was out when officers arrived to arrest her - and they then asked the injured woman if she could find out where she worked.
So the woman went back on Facebook and discovered she was a hairdresser in Croxley Green, Herts.
The attacker was then arrested at work the following day and taken to a police station, where the injured woman picked her out from an identity parade.
The girl thug admitted actual bodily harm at St Albans Crown Court and was sentenced to 120 hours community service on November 10.
Speaking recently, the woman who has been left with an inch-long scar, said she was delighted to have caught her attacker but said police should have done more.
She said: "In the end I had to do the police's job for them and track this girl down on Facebook.
"This girl had just been glaring at me all night long and then all of a sudden I was dancing with friends and she slammed the glass into my face.
"She managed to escape but I recognised one of her friends and decided to try and track her down because I didn't deserve what she did to me."
Attack in a bar
The attack took place on March 21st as the young woman danced on a raised stage in a bar in Watford, Herts.
Recorder Peters QC awarded the injured girl with £2,400 in compensation, while the attacker was ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work.
He said: "In nine times out of ten people that glass people in a club go to prison. You now have a record and if you lose your control again, which you did that evening, you will end up going to prison."
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."
The spokeswoman added: "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 the 1st April."
Updated on 23/11/2009