UK horsewoman spared jail after gin-bottle assault at Cheshire festival

A Warrington magistrates court has spared a 33-year-old horsewoman from jail after she admitted assaulting her boyfriend with a gin bottle at a Cheshire music festival. Jenny Keepe was fined £500 and ordered to pay £285 in costs and a victim surcharge after the incident at the Together Again festival held on the grounds of Bolesworth Castle in Tattenhall on July 25.

Keepe grabbed Anthony Smith by the face, scratched his arm with her nails, struck him on the shoulder with the gin bottle, and also threw drinks and ice water over him before punching him in the face. A security officer at the festival witnessed the bottle strikes, the scratches, and the other during the confrontation. Mr Smith sustained bruising to his left shoulder and scratches to his arm, according to prosecuting counsel Elizabeth Browne.

Keepe, who manages two bars in Warrington and is part-owner of a nightclub, lives on a 92-acre farm and stables complex near Runcorn. She had faced up to 16 weeks in jail after admitting assault. There was no order for compensation or a restraining order as part of the sentence. The incident occurred as the couple attended a day of performances by Olly Murs and UB40 at the 6,000-acre site.

In court, Keepe’s defense argued that she snapped under the pressure of a months-long, controlling relationship. The defense documented that Anthony Smith had allegedly tracked Keepe’s location on his phone and Snapchat account and repeatedly accused her of infidelity. Keepe’s lawyer, Stevie Bate, said his client only realized she had been in a mentally abusive relationship after speaking to a police domestic violence specialist following her arrest.

According to Mr Smith, his left shoulder remained bruised and swollen in the days after the incident, and he had several scratches on his arm. He said Keepe’s actions extended beyond the assault itself, including contacting his friends and colleagues with what he described as untrue comments that led to him being barred from several Warrington venues. He asked the court to consider a restraining order to protect himself and his professional life, though the magistrates chose not to impose one.

Keepe acknowledged wrongdoing but attributed the event to intoxication on the day of the festival. Her lawyer said that if Keepe had not been intoxicated, the incident might not have occurred, noting that she had never previously been in trouble with the law and that the conviction would be a significant punishment given what she had endured in the preceding year. He emphasized that she wished to pursue a complaint against Smith for the alleged abuse and controlling behavior during the relationship.

The magistrate, JP Stephen Walton, told Keepe that the court did not see fit to issue a restraining order because the act was treated as a one-off incident. The sentence reflected the court’s view of the case as an isolated event rather than part of a continuing pattern of behavior. Keepe’s case highlights a broader conversation about domestic violence and controlling relationships, even when the immediate incident occurs in a public, high-profile setting such as a music festival in the English countryside.