“We're all absolutely devastated”.
The words of Chloe Knapton’s mum Allyson after a court allowed bottle attacker Andrew Shires to walk free.
Shires, 37, appeared in court for sentencing after admitting carrying out the attack which left 21-year-old Chloe in hospital for several days with horrific injuries.
But he was allowed to go home after a judge imposed a 12-month suspended sentence rather than a jail term.
Chloe, a former dancer, still has the physical scars from the terrifying attack in Netherthong but is also still feeling the mental scars.
Her mum, who accompanied her to Leeds Crown Court for yesterday’s hearing,, said: “She is still scared when she goes out.
“She is much stronger than I am and has recovered remarkably well, but knowing that something like this can happen after a lovely night out with friends has affected her.
“We are gutted at what happened in the court.
“We had been expecting Shires to be sent to jail for what he did. The maximum sentence for that crime is five years so we thought he may get at least three years.
“It almost seems after what happened in that courtroom this morning that it was him who was the victim.
“Chloe didn’t stand a chance in there. She had given a second victim impact statement as she gave the first very soon after the attack and everything was still very raw.
“She agreed to give another statement explaining what effects it had had on her and went to court expecting to be allowed to read it out, so everyone would know how she feels. But she never got the chance to do that.
“This was to us an open and shut case; Shires admitted the attack, Chloe was very badly hurt, and he should have been locked up for what he did.
“He has been making light of it, posting comments about going to jail on social media, and we feel he is laughing at us.
“Chloe was in tears today and that’s rare. She is very strong but she is absolutely gutted”.
Chloe herself posted a comment on twitter after the hearing. She said simply: “Feel sick as a dog”.
The family are to look into any possible grounds for an appeal against the sentence and are now waiting for feedback from the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
