An 18-year-old woman has escaped custody despite launching a sustained attack on her former partner that left him so terrified he abandoned their holiday and fled the Spanish island within 24 hours of touching down.
Liverpool Crown Court handed Alisha Lloyd an 18-month community order after she admitted assaulting Calum Wignall during what was meant to be a 10-day break to Gran Canaria last July. The sentence includes mental health treatment, alcohol monitoring for 120 days and a two-year restraining order.
The pair had ended their relationship a fortnight before the scheduled departure but opted to proceed with the trip despite their separation. Their decision proved catastrophic when Lloyd turned violent on the first evening after Mr Wignall intervened when she began exchanging social media details with another man in a bar.
Prosecutors told the court Mr Wignall had grabbed Lloyd’s arm and attempted to escort her back to the Beverly Park Hotel around midnight, concerned for her welfare after she had been drinking. His actions prompted an explosive reaction from the teenager, who launched a sustained assault beginning with punches to the back of his head.
The violence escalated when Lloyd struck him in the face whilst gripping her mobile phone, causing a black eye. When Mr Wignall embraced her in an attempt to prevent further blows, she bit his chest with such force that his t-shirt was ripped. Passersby intervened before the assault resumed at their accommodation.
Hotel security initially ejected Mr Wignall after Lloyd falsely claimed he had attacked her, though staff later permitted his return when he clarified events. As he prepared to leave, Lloyd ran down a corridor and punched him whilst he telephoned his mother, subsequently seizing and damaging the device by throwing it.
“I was scared of what Alicia was going to do to me,” Mr Wignall stated, explaining he felt compelled to flee the island for his own protection. He caught a taxi to the airport and boarded the earliest available flight to Britain.
Recorder Mark Ainsworth condemned the incident as “very unpleasant,” noting Lloyd had resorted to violence in a domestic context whilst intoxicated. “Any situation where someone feels compelled to get in taxi and fly home must have been a very serious situation,” he observed.
Defence counsel Charles Lander revealed Lloyd, who has no prior convictions, abandoned her university studies following the prosecution but may return. He cited her “difficult background” whilst acknowledging the severity of the assault.
