Woman Sentenced After Throwing Vodka Bottle at 2-Year-Old Girl in Arcade

(Photo: Lincolnshire Police)

A woman has been sentenced to one year in prison after police say she threw a vodka bottle that struck a 2-year-old girl in the head before going on to assault a member of the public and two police officers.

According to Lincolnshire Police, 41-year-old Samantha Gardiner was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to multiple assault charges stemming from a series of incidents in Skegness, England.

The most serious incident occurred on Feb. 28 inside an amusement arcade.

Police said a relative was lifting a 2-year-old girl onto a ride when Gardiner, who was sitting just a few meters away, threw a vodka bottle in the child’s direction.

The bottle struck the girl on the side of the head “with force,” causing a large lump and bruising, according to investigators.

Authorities later determined that before the assault, Gardiner had been in the arcade with an unidentified man and woman. Police said the man recorded Gardiner using racial slurs on a mobile phone, and the video was later posted to a local Facebook community page.

After the child was injured, Gardiner left the arcade and walked to another nearby amusement venue.

While making her way there, police said she intentionally struck a member of the public on the side of the head with her handbag. The victim was not connected to the child or her family and was not injured.

Investigators said all of the incidents were captured on CCTV.

The toddler’s family later spotted Gardiner and alerted police, leading to her arrest.

According to Lincolnshire Police, Gardiner verbally abused officers while being transported to Skegness Police Station. After arriving at the custody suite, she became violent, scratching and bruising one officer and spitting in another officer’s face.

Gardiner ultimately pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, assault by beating, racially aggravated harassment, multiple public order offenses and two counts of assaulting a police officer in the execution of their duty.

She was initially remanded into custody and denied bail.

In addition to the one-year prison sentence, the court heard that Gardiner had also breached previous bail conditions, resulting in additional concurrent sentences.

“This woman’s behaviour was unpredictable and alarming for all those who encountered her that day, and we have absolutely zero tolerance for that,” Sgt. Billy Spence of Lincolnshire Police said in a statement.

“People are entitled to enjoy the amenities that our wonderful town offers without fear of encountering such distasteful and frankly dangerous behaviour.”

Spence added that police would continue working with community partners to ensure offenders who threaten public safety are “held to account and brought to justice.”