04 November 2023 , 12:01
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A young British soldier who was charged over a glass attack in a Magaluf nightclub has avoided prison and has been let off with a £780 fine.
Sydney Cole, 24, was arrested when her Lance Corporal pal Sarah Garrity, from Scotland, was left in intensive care after losing four pints of blood and needing 14 stitches to a neck wound. Earlier this year, Cole was warned she could be jailed for three years after being charged with a crime of wounding by Spanish state prosecutors despite her victim's refusal to press charges.
But yesterday Cole, who was serving in the Adjutant General's Corps based at Fort George Barracks in Inverness when the horror incident happened, avoided prison after confessing to hurting Sarah as part of a plea bargain deal. She admitted wrongdoing at the Provincial Court of Palma in Majorca, speaking briefly through a translator to say she understood and accepted the agreement.
Sydney Cole pictured with Sarah Garrity (Copyright unknown)She was allowed to appear via video link rather than having to travel to the island for the brief half-hour hearing. Speaking after it finished, Cole’s lawyer Gloria Olmos said: "I'm happy with the way this case has been resolved and Sydney is very happy obviously not to be going to prison.
"A fine is the lowest punishment she could have got and if this had gone to a full trial she would have been looking at a possible three-year prison sentence if convicted." Irvine, Ayrshire-born Sarah, who was serving in the Royal Logistics Corps when she was critically injured, triggered the early release of Cole from prison days following her April 2019 arrest and preventative remand in custody after telling police and court officials she did not want to press charges.
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Prosecutors decided to continue trying to build a case against the accused woman after witnesses told police the attacker threw a glass directly at Sarah’s neck during a row at Magaluf's Banana's nightclub following an all-day drinking session. Cole insisted after her arrest her holiday pal was hurt in an accident when she threw the glass on the floor during the fight with her and shards from it hit Sarah in the neck.
She has been ordered to pay a £780 fine (SOLARPIX.COM)
Ms Garrity (left) was left in intensive care (SOLARPIX.COM)The pair were sharing a hotel room with another squaddie friend called Deborah Ferguson. Sarah spent more than 24 hours in intensive care in the hospital in Majorca and three days in a general ward before being discharged.
Court officials confirmed at the time Cole was being investigated by a court in the Majorcan capital Palma on suspicion of wounding her friend with a dangerous weapon, a crime which carries a prison sentence in Spain of up to five years. Prosecutors ended up confirming they were seeking a three-year prison sentence over the April 15 2019 incident after she was formally charged in an indictment made public in August.
The indictment was drafted after an international arrest warrant was issued for Cole following failed attempts to inform her she was wanted for a new quiz under oath during the long-running judicial investigation which was slowed by the Covid pandemic. The arrest warrant was withdrawn after she hired a new lawyer who negotiated her behind-closed-doors court appearance in Palma earlier this year to answer fresh questions about the attack ahead of yesterday's hearing.
Hertfordshire-born Cole is thought to have left the Army and started work for a private security firm, although she was not asked about her job status during Friday's plea bargain deal court hearing. A relative of Sarah's told the Sunday People at the start of November 2020 Cole had yet to apologise and the Army had let her stay on the same base for 11 months afterwards.
Sydney Cole (middle) was serving in the Adjutant General’s Corps based at Fort George Barracks in Inverness at the time of the incident (SOLARPIX.COM)A source told the paper: "Sarah told the police not to charge Cole because she didn’t want to see a young girl banged up in a jail abroad. She expected her to be full of remorse but didn’t even get an apology."
The source also claimed Army bosses told Sarah to "get on with it" when she asked them to consider moving Cole after she got back to work three months later and found her still on Fort George barracks base. A family member of Sarah’s said: "We don’t feel the Army has looked after our girl." Cole is said to have left after having a baby and being given an Army house.
An Army spokesman said at the time: "An investigation is ongoing following an incident with a British soldier in Spain last year. We take our duty of care to personnel very seriously. It would be inappropriate to comment further."
Cole has been told to pay her fine at the rate of €5 a day over six months - a total of €900 or £780. Sources close to the case said the witnesses who gave evidence at the time of the incident had not subsequently ratified their statements in court in front of an investigating judge.