Helen Hoaken became enraged when she found out her best friend had cheated with her partner. Picture: FacebookThe violent attack came after she found out her friend had slept with her fiance.
A bride-to-be has been handed a 10-month jail sentence after she was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to her maid-of-honour.
Helen Hoaken, 37, grabbed best friend Carol Clarkson by the hair and flung her to the ground so violently her head crashed into the pavement, The Sun reported.
The violent incident was caught on CCTV and showed Ms Hoaken attacking Ms Clarklson in a way a judge described as “quite shocking”.
The victim suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain and required an emergency operation to save her life.
Ms Hoaken carried out the savage attack after she discovered Ms Clarklson had slept with her fiance. The bride-to-be was arrested on March 29 and wedding has been postponed indefinitely.
Hoaken, of Exeter in the UK admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 10 months at Exeter Crown Court.
Judge Timothy Rose told Hoaken: “Miss Clarkson was going to be the maid of honour at your proposed wedding. It became apparent to you there had been some form of sexual infidelity between her and your husband-to-be.”
“You were no doubt particularly hurt and angry with her. I understand your position. You saw her and approached her from behind without any warning at all.
You took hold of her hair with quite some violence and hurled her to the floor in a quite shocking way. CCTV footage showed the shocking nature of what you did. She could have suffered far more serious consequences.”
Hoaken’s defence lawyer Joss Ticehurst said it was a chance encounter between the two women that led to a spontaneous loss of control.
“Miss Clarkson was a very close friend and was going to be maid of honour at her wedding. She was in drink and desperately upset at the behaviour of her friend,” he said.
“She did not intend to cause any injury of the sort that she did. She is deeply shocked and remorseful.”
