Jealous woman who repeatedly smashed her friend’s head in drunken attack because victim had been texting her boyfriend is jailed
- Zoe Hopkins, 34, ‘smashed’ her friend’s head against a stairwell in a jealous rage
- Hopkins was angry about texts the woman had exchanged with her boyfriend
- She waited outside the woman’s flat in Carmarthen, south Wales, in a drunk state
- At Swansea Crown Court, she pleaded guilty to assault and was jailed 16 months
A woman who repeatedly ‘smashed’ her friend’s head on the steps inside a block of flats in a jealous rage has been jailed for 16 months.
Zoe Hopkins, 34, from Carmarthen, south Wales, lashed out at her victim in a furious response to text messages the woman had exchanged with Hopkins’ boyfriend.
Megan Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court today that Hopkins and her victim were known to each other.
On February 15, the defendant was intoxicated and stood waiting outside her friend’s Carmarthen flat when she returned home.
Hopkins followed the woman into the communal area of the block and, once inside, grabbed her from behind, threw her to the floor, and ‘smashed’ her head against the steps a number of times.
Zoe Hopkins, 34, from Carmarthen, south Wales, lashed out at her victim in a furious response to text messages the woman had exchanged with Hopkins’ boyfriend.
The woman managed to get to her feet and flee to her flat but was pursued upstairs and attacked again – Hopkins grabbed the woman by the hair, pulled her head downwards, and then kicked her in the face while accusing her of sending text messages to her boyfriend.
The 28-year-old victim managed to get away, and ran to a neighbour’s flat, from where the police were called.
When Hopkins was arrested and interviewed, she answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.
The victim was left with cuts and bruises but did not seek medical treatment, and in an impact statement which was read to the court said she had had been petrified by the assault which had worsened her anxiety.
Hopkins had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Hopkins appeared at Swansea Crown Court (pictured) where she pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 16 months in prison
She has 16 previous convictions for 22 offences, some 10 of which are for violence with the last being a battery in 2019.
David Singh, for Hopkins, said the defendant was someone who had experienced a ‘difficult upbringing’ and who had substance misuse issues.
He said ‘there may have been a degree of jealousy’ involved on the day in question in regards to text messages sent to her partner, and to her partner’s behaviour.
Recorder Paul Lewis QC said it had been a prolonged assault apparently ‘motivated by some element of jealousy’ and aggravated by the defendant’s record of offending and by her admission to a probation officer that she had been drunk at the time.
With a 20 per cent discount for her guilty plea, Hopkins was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
She will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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