Wellingborough mum 'flipped' and smashed WKD bottle over woman's head in street

A Wellingborough woman was left needing eight stitches to her head after being hit with a WKD bottle in Regent Street.

The victim said that she had seen Kylie Martin, 30, leaving Bargain Buys in a red Astra with a man as she stopped to buy a drink on September 5 last year.

Martin and the man drove off but then returned and Martin got out of her car and smashed the victim over the head with the bottle, knocking her out and causing profuse bleeding. Police and the ambulance attended and she was taken to hospital where she received eight stitches to the wound.

In interview, Martin, of Knights Court, Wellingborough, admitted what she had done and pleaded guilty to the offence, despite the victim initially insisting she believed the male occupant of the Astra to have been the aggressor.

She was initially charged with GBH but the charge was altered to unlawful and malicious wounding at the Northampton Crown Court hearing yesterday (Friday, July 2).

Prosecuting, Jonathan Eley said: "She said she'd flipped, picked up a bottle and hit her to the head.

"She said she'd had issues with her for five years.. and that she'd had enough and was angry."

Mitigating, Naeem Karbhari, said that his client had made full admissions when she was arrested, adding: "She's learned her lesson. She's terrified about leaving this court through the back door.

"She's made the necessary arrangements for the care of her children and comes here today with the support of her friends and family."

He said Martin was a carer for her mum and helps to look after her sister's four children.

Sentencing Martin, Recorder Michael Auty said: "You couldn't complain if you went down the back stairs this afternoon.

"You can't hit people over the head with bottles because you run the risk of killing them.

"These courts have seen people killed by far lesser blows than you delivered that night.

"In the pre-sentence report you show no empathy whatsoever for the woman you hit but you do show it for her children.

"You had driven away (on the night of the attack) but you returned. That was probably the most foolish decision you've ever made in your life."

He said that because she had admitted her offence at the first opportunity, there would be no immediate jail sentence.

"It's not your children that have saved you," said Recorder Auty, "what's saved you is that you had the integrity to admit what you had done and that took courage.

"You played fair with the system when you didn't have to and the system will play fair with you. Had you had a trial and been convicted by a jury your sentence would have been one of 18 months in prison."

He reduced the sentence to 12 months to take account of Martin's guilty plea and suspended it for two years. She will also have to complete a twenty-day rehabilitation requirement and do 150 hours of unpaid work.