A young woman was left needing thousands of pounds of dental work after a stranger punched her in the face so violently she knocked her teeth out.
Jade Stanway was enjoying a drink in The Auctioneer in Stoke-on-Trent when mum-of-three Kelly Rodgers launched the unprovoked attack in July last year.
The 21-year-old said she could taste blood immediately and discovered her two front teeth had been smashed.
She has since had to endure 16 dentist appointments in six months for root canal treatment, a brace and implants.
Although she was awarded £1,200 compensation, the money only covers a fraction of the cost of the £5,000-plus needed to repair her smile.
Jade, from Stoke-on-Trent, said she was hit after stepping in to ‘keep the peace’ following a confrontation.
Her social life is now ‘non-existent’ with the assault leaving her scared to go out.
Jade told StokeLive: ‘I had been in the pub for an hour, under very little influence of alcohol. We were leaving the pub. I didn’t start kicking off, far from that. I’m not loud or gobby. I was trying to calm a situation.
‘£1,200 compensation doesn’t do justice to what I am going through and for the mental health issues I have suffered.
‘This has cost me almost £5,000 and my social life which is now non-existent.’
Jade said the bill racked up after initial treatment was unsuccessful due to the impact of the punch.
‘At the time this happened I was 20 years old. What 20 year old has a spare five grand in their back pocket?’, she said.
‘I have every single receipt to prove the debt I am going to be. What about in the next 10 years when my implant needs replacing and then the following 10 years? That hasn’t been taken into account.
‘I’ve also had to try to keep a job down despite having to go the dentist 16 times in six months.’
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Rodgers, 38, became violent after objecting to how Jade’s partner was looking at her boyfriend at about midnight on July 14 last year.
The defendant, from Knutton, was handed a suspended 18 months prison sentence this week after pleading guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Judge Sally Hancox told her: ‘You had too much to drink to ensure you kept your good senses about you.
‘You punched a complete stranger in the face when you had no reason to do so.
‘You now know the consequences of that for a 21-year-old are far reaching and lengthy, physically in terms of appearance and psychologically in terms of getting out and having a social life.
‘It has just been devastating for her. All because you thought someone was looking at your partner the wrong way.
‘Nothing I can say, no punishment I can give, is going to come close to making up to the victim for what happened to her.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/14/womans-teeth-knocked-out-by-stranger-who-punched-her-on-night-out-13418615/