Social media influencer, 24, who punched love rival in the face so hard she needed reconstructive surgery is spared jail – because her ‘reputation suffered’ when people found out
- Instagram star Mary Jean Korkou punched a woman in the face at a bar last year
- Victim needed facial re-constructive surgery after fitness model attacked her
- Korkou avoided jail time after the court was told the case had embarrassed her
A social media star who punched a woman so hard she needed facial reconstructive surgery has avoided jail.
Mary Jean Korkou, 24, appeared in the Hervey Bay District Court, in southern Queensland, on Monday to be sentenced over the incident in December last year.
The fitness model was at a pub on the Hervey Bay Esplanade when she attacked 26-year-old Reegan Keevil.
Ms Keevil had previously been in a relationship with Korkou’s then-boyfriend Murphy Fitzgerald and had stopped to speak to him at the pub.
Mary Jean Korkou (pictured), 24, attacked Reegan Keevil after the victim spoke to her boyfriend in a pub in December last year
Ms Keevil suffered horrific injuries and had to have reconstructive surgery (pictured)
The two women then briefly spoke before Korkou threw the powerful punch, causing Ms Keevil to suffer a fractured eye socket, cheek bone and jaw.
She had to undergo re-constructive surgery and had titanium plates inserted into the breaks.
During sentencing, defence barrister James Benjamin said the incident had publicly shamed his client.
The influencer has more than 5,000 followers on Instagram but also works as a dental assistant in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast Daily reported.
The court heard how Korkou was now too embarrassed to return to her Hervey Bay home as a result of the court case.
Korkou was sentenced to 18 months jail, which was wholly-suspended for two years.
Ms Keevil (pictured) said she was disappointed with Ms Korkou’s sentence saying she had been ‘imprisoned in her own home’
Ms Keevil said she was disappointed as she felt her attacker’s embarrassment should not have been a factor in her sentencing.
‘The fact they took into account her being publicly embarrassed, what has that got to do with hitting me in the face?
‘I’ve been imprisoned in my own home for seven months now.’