A mum-of-three broke down in tears as she was jailed for nine months for glassing a pub landlord. John Higginson suffered a two-centimetre gash to his forehead when 39-year-old Tracy Manning hurled a beer glass in his face at The Upper George in Crown Street, Halifax.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the landlord had asked her to leave the pub after she and her friends drunkenly chanted support for the BNP and EDL. Manning was being escorted off the premises by Mr Higginson when she grabbed the glass and threw it at him. Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said the landlord followed Manning outside and as he tried to detain her she punched him and poked her thumb into his left eye.

The court heard Mr Higginson was left with a scar and has suffered sleeplessness and anxiety since the incident in April. Manning, who has previous convictions for assault, battery and resisting the police, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Halifax Courier, 30 August 2011

Manning’s involvement with the EDL is clear from the Halifax Division’s Facebook page. The assault for which she has been convicted apparently took place four months ago. Although the Courier report doesn’t give the exact date, it is worth noting that the EDL held a protest in Halifax on 16 April.