Mum cries as judge says her horrific attack shows how 'lives can be ruined by drunken violence'

A mum who blinded a woman with a stiletto on a night out tearfully nodded as a judge told her lives are destroyed by "drunken violence arising out of stupid arguments". Ellie Brown, a charity volunteer and mum of a 10-year-old child, repeatedly struck her victim in the face with her high heels after an argument erupted in the early hours over a man urinating in the street.

Brown, 27, told police she "felt sick" over her drunken actions - and said "thank you" to the Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC as he imprisoned her for five years and four months. Liverpool's most senior judge told the court: "The circumstances serve to demonstrate how so many lives, in so many ways, can be ruined, damaged or destroyed by drunken violence arising out of stupid arguments or perceived slights after a good night out."

Michael O'Brien, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Thursday, August 29, that complainant Sylwia Lukowska had been in Liverpool city centre with her friend Dominic Bennett shortly before 5.30am on March 13 2022 when the latter began to urinate on a set of shutters outside premises on Fleet Street. Brown, of Gray Street in Bootle, had meanwhile been out drinking with her sister and two men.

A scuffle broke out after the defendant's sibling said "get your d*** away" to Mr Bennett, resulting in the sister and the victim of the assault tussling on the ground. Brown then attempted to strike a "prone" Ms Lukowksa with her orange stilettos, but instead hit Mr Bennett. She then proceeded to batter the married mum in the head with her high heeled shoes.

Ms Lukowska "immediately covered her eye and stopped moving" at this stage. Brown's high heels were "sent flying" during this initial assault, but she went on to retrieve one of her shoes and resumed the attack before being restrained by Mr Bennett and a member of the public.

The injured woman was meanwhile "carried to safety", with police officers finding the then 43-year-old "hardly responsive" upon attending the scene. While she was being transported to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Mr Bennett spotted Brown's group as the ambulance passed the Tesco supermarket on Hanover Street.

This led to PCs being deployed to the location and arresting the defendant. Under interview at St Anne Street Police Station, she told officers that she had consumed "four doubles, a steamboat and four vodkas" and had smoked cannabis earlier in the day.

Brown claimed that she "has no recollection of the assault" and had "just gone to help her sister" but, when played CCTV footage of the altercation, said: "I feel sick to be honest with you. Being a mum, watching that, it's not nice."

When shown pictures of Ms Lukowska's injuries, she added: "It's horrible, especially that picture. I'd rather not look at that photo again please." Ms Lukowska suffered a fractured right eye socket during the incident, with one of the blows having punctured her eyelid, and remained in hospital for three days. She is "not expected to ever recover the vision in her right eye" and has not been able to return to work since.

Having undergone surgery in May last year to improve the appearance of her injuries, she is currently awaiting a further cosmetic operation. Brown has no previous convictions.

Olivia Beesley, defending, told the court: "This is a sad, sad offence. It is sad for the victim, sad for the victim's family and it is also sad for Ms Brown and her family. This was completely out of character for Ms Brown as a young, hard working and usually kind, considerate individual who is a mother to a 10-year-old daughter. This stands in stark contrast to the way she has lived her life up until that day in 2022.

"She comes from a stable, secure background. Despite having her daughter at a young age, she completed her GCSEs and has always been driven in her career goals and has worked for the past six years as a community care worker.

"Not only has she been in that role for six years while raising her daughter, she has had an active role in voluntary work in a local mental health support café. Her manager has described how kind and caring she is in that role and how she goes out of her way to take care of people.

"She is generous and has a drive to provide for others, which of course makes her behaviour that evening all the more shocking. She was intoxicated, and perhaps this has factored into a lapse in her maturity and judgement at that time. While Ms Brown does have the support of her mother to take care of her child, it will of course still have a real impact on her daughter."

Brown, who has no previous convictions, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. Judge Menary told the court the scuffle was "pretty unedifying behaviour, but it is sadly typical of the conduct seen after a night out in this city centre". He added: "The males were trying to pull people apart, and that is how it should have ended.

"But, for no good reason, you repeatedly used your shoes to attack a now prone Ms Lukowska. I have seen CCTV footage which clearly shows your determination to hit her in the face with the heel of your shoe, despite being pushed or pulled away by one or more males.

"On two separate occasions, you attacked your victim and struck her several times to the face with the heel of your shoe. These were clearly targeted blows to the face with a shoe which you were deliberately holding in a way to cause the most harm. "One blow caused an injury to the right eyelid of Ms Lukoswka, fracturing her eye socket and permanently damaging the function of the right eyelid.

"More seriously, the eye itself was injured and, as a result, she is now totally and permanently blind in one eye. Despite urgent medical intervention, nothing much can now be done to improve this outcome. She has not been able to work since the incident, and the long term effects on her and her family are likely to be profound. On any view, the circumstances of this case are utterly tragic - most especially for Ms Lukowska, but also for you."

The judge said: "I accept that you now deeply regret what you did, but you also recognise - as must everyone who considers this case - that the circumstances are simply so serious that there must be a custodial sentence of some length, designed to punish you for the harm you quite deliberately caused that night." Brown's supporters told her "love you" as she was led down to the cells.