A MAN has avoided a prison sentence after attacking a female DJ outside an Aberystwyth pub.

Ash Gilmore was ejected from Bar 46 on Bridge Street on 29 February 2023 but returned, armed with a mug to attack the DJ ‘in a drunken stupor’ causing a gash above the eye and to the eyelid.

Father-of-five, Gilmore, 31, of Newhall Road, Rowley Regis, Birmingham, appeared before Swansea Crown Court for sentencing where he was handed a six month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to complete 180 hours of unpaid work after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

Gilmore was also ordered to pay his victim £1,740 in compensation

The court heard how on 29 February last year, Gilmore was in Bar 46 and ejected after his behaviour deteriorated, becoming involved in an altercation and picking up a chair.

The court heard Gilmore shouted threats to staff and tried to re-enter the bar but was prevented from doing so and walked off.

Around 30 minutes later, he returned to the area with another man and the pair hid behind a car outside the bar.

As the DJ left the bar and got into her car, she was confronted with Gilmore demanding to know if the police were looking for him, to which he was told no.

Gilmore then stuck his victim in the face with the mug a number of times before walking off, smashing the mug on the car as he did.

The injured DJ returned to Bar 46 and the police were contacted. The court heard the victim subsequently went to Bronglais Hospital where a 2cm laceration above the eye and on the eyelid was cleaned and closed.

Meanwhile police had been able to track the defendant via and in his subsequent interview Gilmore said he had been drinking at the Pier with friends and smoking cannabis before going to Bar 46.

The victim told the court in a statement she had been left wondering whether she had been assaulted because she was transgender. She said the incident had destroyed her self-confidence.