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A 62-year-old Mansfield grandmother who smashed a glass over a man’s head in an unprovoked pub attack has avoided prison by a ‘hair’s breadth’ because other drinkers helped save her victim’s life, a court has heard.

Beverley Coates’s victim 'bled profusely' when she cut his artery after hitting him with a glass while his back was turned, in The Court House pub, on August 30, last year, prosecutor Noel Philo said.

Mr Recorder Michael Auty QC said Coates owed members of the public, who stepped in to help, ‘a debt you can never repay because they almost certainly saved his life’.

Coates’s victim was taken to King's Mill Hospital, Sutton, where he was treated for two lacerations – one four centimetres long and one 3cm long.

The Courthhouse, on Mansfield Market Place.

When Coates was interviewed by the police, she admitted ‘being slaughtered’ and described CCTV footage of the incident as ‘disgusting’.

The court heard she has no previous convictions, but was cautioned for assaulting a constable, in 2011.

Coates, née Smith, of Terrace Road, Mansfield, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

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Katrina Wilson, mitigating, said Coates was ‘genuinely and sincerely’ remorseful about the ‘one-off attack’, which she immediately regretted, and ‘has not slept since that night’.

She said Coates has not drunk alcohol since and has taken time off her part-time job in a supermarket because of the ‘mental toll of facing a custodial sentence’.

The court heard Coates, who faces serious health issues, had not told her family about the court hearing, because ‘she couldn't handle it’.

Ms Wilson said: “She is simply disgusted by what happened. Nothing has happened in the 12 months since.”

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Auty told Coates: “There is a real concern among the public about violence that occurs in pubs. Any sort of glass could have caused the most devastating injuries. It's an extraordinarily dangerous thing to do.”

However, he said prison ‘would have a devastating effect on her and her husband and wider family’.

Coates wept when the judge imposed a two year sentence, suspended for two years. He ordered her to pay £1,500 compensation to her victim within the next 18 months.

Mr Recorder Auty said: “You have avoided prison by a hair's-breadth. You should count yourself extraordinarily fortunate.”

Mansfield grandmother who glassed man in pub avoided prison by 'hair’s breadth'