Corby woman smashed her mate's jaw because she wasn't paying her enough attention

Nikki Lee Martin was on a night out at Breakers Bar in St James’s Road, Corby, with a friend of nearly 20 years.

But she became angry that the woman apparently was not paying her enough attention.

She went outside and smashed her in the jaw, breaking it and damaging the inside of her mouth.

Martin, 34, sobbed throughout a court hearing yesterday (Monday, July 1) where she was sentenced for grievous bodily harm.

She was previously found guilty at a magistrates’ court trial. JPs ruled that she had acted in self-defence, fearing for her own safety, but said that the force she used was excessive.

Yesterday’s hearing was told that Martin had been at Breakers Bar for a few hours on the night of July 16, 2022.

At about 11pm she went outside with friends to get a taxi.

Prosecuting, Micaila Williams said: “The defendant began to shout at her friend. The friend thought she was just joking so ignored her.”

Then an argument ensued between the pair and Martin accused the pal of ‘spending time with other friends.’

Ms Williams said: “She swung for the victim who felt cracking to her face.

"She stumbled and said she kept losing consciousness. She had severe pain to her jaw area.”

The victim had surgery to insert plates and screws into her broken jaw and spent four days in hospital.

She was unable to eat properly for three months and is still scared to go out in crowds.

A victim personal statement said: “She will forgive the defendant but she will never forget what happened to her.”

Martin, of Thorne Court, Corby, has 34 convictions dating back to when she was 16, including for robbery, fraud, violence, drugs and driving offences.

The former crack addict has served jail 30 months for a previous GBH during which she broke someone’s arm with a metal pole.

The month before that, she’d been given a final chance by a Leicester Crown Court judge for threatening a worker at One Stop Shop in Uppingham during a terrifying robbery.

She was still on licence for GBH when she committed the latest offence at Breakers, and was recalled to prison to serve the rest of her sentence.

Mitigating, Will Forber-Heyward said the magistrates’ ruling that Martin felt threatened enough to use violence meant the victim had ‘some degree of fault’.

He added that her claim that she was scared of going into busy places should be ‘taken with a pinch of salt.’

"It’s to her credit that Miss Martin is no longer drinking, and she’s clean of drugs,” said Mr Forber Heyward.

"She’s turned her life around.”

Sentencing, District Judge (MC) Adrian Lower said: “It’s up to the victim who she spends time with. You’ve no right to demand she spends her time with you.”

He said the offence was so serious it warranted an 18-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years.

Martin was also given a community order to include 30 rehabilitation activity days, a six month mental health programme and 150 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay the victim £200 in compensation.

A restraining order stops her from contacting the victim.