Woman who tried to murder teenage boy with broken gin bottle jailed

A woman has been jailed for attempting to murder a teenage boy during an attack which ended in him needing life-saving surgery.

Paula Macaulay, 43, was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on Thursday for the assault in Glasgow city centre on August 4, 2023.

The High Court heard how Macaulay struck the youth in the neck with a broken gin bottle.

Emergency service staff rushed him to the hospital, where surgeons carried out life-saving surgery.

Police later detained her and found parts of the broken receptacle and glass fragments on her clothes.

Macaulay had been due to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow last month, but on the day jurors were set to be sworn in, she instead pled guilty to attempted murder while acting under provocation.

Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Young praised the skill of the surgeons who worked on Macaulay’s victim.

He said: “Had it not been for the response of the emergency services and the skill of surgeons who operated on the complainer, you could have been facing a charge of murder.”

He added: “I sentence you to five years and nine months imprisonment.”

Lord Young previously heard how the victim and his friends had been out on the evening of the attack.

They ended up in the company of Macaulay, who lives in Glasgow, and a male associate before leaving.

The group again met the pair on Osborne Street, where the boy was in an “altercation” with Macaulay’s friend.

Prosecutor Gareth Reid said that Macaulay got involved and a gin bottle she had ended up smashed.

One of the boy’s group grabbed the woman by the hair to try and get her off her friend.

Mr Reid told the court: “Macaulay struck the boy on the neck with the broken bottle. The boy realised that he was bleeding and slowly fell to the floor.”

The incident was captured on CCTV, but from a distance away.

Macaulay fled as the victim’s panicked friends flagged down passing British Transport Police officers for help.

An ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital. There was “profuse bleeding” from a wound on the right side of his neck, which required an operation.

Mr Reid said: “The injuries sustained will leave permanent scarring. The surgeon stated that, but for medical intervention, his life would have been in danger due to the bleeding.”

Macaulay was found by police having been spotted outside a post office in nearby Glassford Street.

She claimed the others had been “jumping” on her male friend and that she had also been assaulted, including having food thrown at her.

Macaulay had a red mark and an abrasion after being checked by a medic.

On Thursday, defence advocate Rosalyn McTaggart told the court that her client had a traumatic childhood.

The court heard how Macaulay had witnessed domestic abuse and had also fallen victim herself to the crime.

Ms McTaggart also said her client had suffered from addiction issues.

The lawyer added: “She is genuinely sorry for her actions and that is reflected in her plea of guilty.”

Lord Young told Macaulay that she would have received a six-and-a-half-year term if she hadn’t pleaded guilty.