Woman scarred for life in nightclub brands sentence 'a joke'
A woman scarred for life after being hit by a bottle in a Dundee nightclub has said the sentence given to the man responsible was "an absolute joke".
Francis Monaghan intended to strike a man in Liquid Nightclub with the bottle but it hit Debbie Strachan in the face instead and smashed.
Monaghan was ordered to complete 255 hours of unpaid work.
Ms Strachan said the community sentence meant the 27-year-old had been allowed to walk away "scot-free".
Monaghan, from Stirling, was also told to pay Ms Strachan £750 compensation.
A sheriff told him if he had been found guilty of assault, rather than the charge of culpable and reckless conduct which was accepted by prosecutors, he would have been jailed for two years.
Ms Strachan, who is also from Stirling, said: "I feel really disappointed they didn't make an example of him.
"I thought it would have been a lot worse than that - £750 to be paid to me is nothing.
"I think it's an absolute joke."
Monaghan, of Ochil Crescent, Stirling, admitted a charge of culpable and reckless conduct committed on 29 March last year at Liquid Nightclub, Dundee.
Ms Strachan has started an online petition to have glass items banned from nightclubs, following the incident.
She said: "He has just walked away scot-free.
"If he went to prison he would have learned some sort of lesson."
Ms Strachan said she still struggled to come to terms with her injuries.
She said: "I have to look in the mirror every day. I have to look at the scars every day.
"It's not just the physical side of things, it's the mental side too."