A WOMAN has criticised the justice system after the hairdresser who glassed her husband avoided a custodial sentence.

Becky Hulme admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Paul Pittuck, 42, at Faces nightclub in Chelmsford last December.

She was given a suspended sentence after a court heard she was pregnant.

Mr Pittuck’s wife, Charlotte, believes Hulme should be in prison. She said: “We can’t help but feel the sentence was considerably lower than what the defendant should have received.

“She glassed my husband, completely unprovoked in a nightclub, just missing his eye.

“A suspended sentence and 80 hours of community service seems extremely lenient.

“If a man would have committed this crime on a woman he would have been serving at least two years.

“We cannot help but feel there is gender bias in our justice system.

“Her pregnancy affected the sentencing yet she was not pregnant at the time of the attack.”

The court heard Hulme forcefully pushed Mr Pittuck away, forgetting she was holding a champagne glass.

The managing director needed 15 stitches and glue to his face.

Mrs Pittuck, 34, said: “I appreciate that our justice system has to take into account all mitigating factors on both sides, but I was angered at her lack of remorse shown towards us as a family and the judge’s reasons for sentencing.

“He never once appeared to consider us and the effect not only a crime like this has on a family but also the effects a lenient sentence has on a family.”