Mum offered £3,000 not to tell police what happened at party

A mum was offered £3,000 to not tell the police after she was slashed in the face with a knife at a house party. Adam Wright armed himself with the weapon when he squared off with a vodka bottle-wielding man known only as "Hencho" after the drink and drug-fuelled gathering descended into violence in the early hours.

As he then began viciously swinging the blade around, he missed his intended target and instead caught a young mum on the cheek. She has now been left scarred for life, but feels she is lucky not to have lost her sight or even her life.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Thursday, November 28 that Yasmine Ettrick had been drinking with friends in the Boundary pub in Toxteth on the evening of May 31 this year before visiting a restaurant. She then attended a house party on Winchester Road in Anfield, arriving in a taxi in the early hours of June 1.

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Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, detailed how she knew the occupant of the property and recognised some of the other people present, including Wright and a man she knew only as Hencho. Attendees were said to have been drinking and taking cocaine before an argument erupted between these two men at around 8am, squaring up to one another in the living room as Ms Ettrick sat on a sofa nearby.

Another partygoer attempted to diffuse the situation, but the unidentified male pulled out a litre bottle of vodka from his pocket and raised it in his right hand. At this, Wright took a knife from his own right pocket and began "swinging it" about.

The blade caught Ms Ettrick's face as a result, leaving with her a "deep wound" to the left cheek. The defendant, of Mather Avenue, Allerton, then fled the property in possession of the weapon as she began to bleed heavily.

The 36-year-old was said to have pocketed the knife after finding it within the address following an earlier altercation outside with the same man. Ms Ettrick attended Aintree Hospital later the same day, suffering a 10cm slash wound which had to be glued shut.

She subsequently received a phone call within the following days "offering her £3,000 not to report what happened to the police". In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, she outlined how she has been left with a permanent six-inch scar on her face which her "daughter and family have to look at daily".

Ms Ettrick now "hates looking in the mirror" as a result and feels that the knife "could have taken her life if it was a few inches closer to her neck" or "could have taken her sight if it was a few inches higher". She also described herself as being "scared of retaliation by the defendant".

Wright was subsequently arrested on June 6 after arriving at an address on Mill Lane in Wavertree while officers were attending an unrelated incident, having been circulated as being wanted in connection with the assault. He has a total of seven previous convictions for eight offences - including receiving two years in a young offenders' institute for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply in 2007, a 16-month sentence for affray in 2012 and nine months for dangerous driving in 2013.

Ken Heckle, defending, told the court: "He is remorseful. He has referred to the complainant as an innocent girl with a big scar on her face, and he regrets that.

"He had put a particularly bad record behind him. His last conviction is 13 years of age, being committed in July 2011. He was under threat. This was not just gratuitous violence.

"There is absolutely no blame attached to the complainant in this case. She is a completely innocent victim. It is not lost on him what he has done. He deeply regrets it. She was not an intended victim.

"This defendant wants to put this matter behind him and wants to serve the sentence your honour will impose and come out and hopefully continue the good work he was doing before this incident. It appears that maybe being a father has made him grow up. Unfortunately, this incident has taken him back to a further prison sentence."

Wright admitted unlawful wounding. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 32 months and handed a five-year restraining order on Thursday.

Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: "The knife you were holding ended up slicing through the side of her face. It was a deep cut. It is not just the physical pain of this injury that makes the matter serious. It is the effect it has had on her and continue to have on her.

"She is left now with a six-inch scar on the side of her face. She has to see it every day in the mirror. She was a completely innocent victim. As a result of your behaviour, that innocent girl, in your words, has been left with a big scar. Her worry is, if that knife had sliced through her in a slightly different location, she could have lost her life or an eye.

"Carrying knives is viewed very seriously by the courts. This case demonstrates exactly the reason why. I accept that you did not intend to injure this woman in any way, but because you had the knife this has happened to her. Innocent people end up being injured. That is why this is a serious matter.

"I do note the fact that you have remained out of trouble now for some 13 years or so. You are somebody, I am told, who has had a partner since you were 16. You have three children who you support and look after. I am sure that you not being with your family is causing difficulties for them.

"I note that you tried to deal with issues with drink following the death of your father, but you had been drinking that night. I read positively that you are using your time in custody well, and that is to your credit."