A British bride has been battling depression and has been unable to work for almost two years after she was black-painted by her vicious sister-in-law. The attack, which took place just before she was about to marry her childhood sweetheart, was the culmination of a revenge attack in an ongoing feud.
Mother-of-two Gemma Monk, 35, is looking forward to marrying her now-husband Ken Monk in May 2024. As she walked with her father on the cream carpet at the Maidstone venue in England, someone called out her name. Seconds later, she was splattered with black paint, she told Kent Online in an article published on Friday.
Realizing her attacker was her sister-in-law Antonia Eastwood (husband of Gemma’s brother Ashley), Gemma grabbed her by the hair, but Eastwood managed to escape. The bride was distraught and burst into tears.
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Shortly before Gemma Monk’s May 2024 wedding in the UK, her sister-in-law was doused with black paint during an ongoing argument. Antonia Eastwood was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, which means she will be eligible for parole.
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“This has had a huge impact on my life,” Monk told Kent Online on Wednesday after Eastwood was sentenced by a UK court for two counts of criminal damage. “Even when I was at the police station giving this statement, I was very emotional and started crying while talking about it.
“After what happened, if it wasn’t for my kids or my family, I don’t think I would have gotten out of bed and taken care of myself,” she added. “I lost all dignity and good habits in my life. I lost who I was. It turned the most special day of my life into the worst memory – one that I will never forget and neither will my family.”
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The attack came after Monk suffered a significant weight loss due to a cancer scare. Monk said that although she later received a clean bill of health, her sister-in-law was aware of the medical struggle but “still decided to ruin the most important day of my life and put me in danger.”
Eastwood, 49, banned from participating wedding Monk was accused of “trying to trip” Eastwood during a dispute over his own wedding.
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Antonia Eastwood threw black paint at Gemma Monk on her wedding day in revenge. This week she appeared in court over the May 2024 incident.
In court, Eastwood was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to perform 160 hours of community service.
“This was a special day for Gemma Monk and her family. It has been turned into a nightmare because of your actions,” Judge Oliver Saxby told Eastwood before handing down sentence.
Eastwood’s husband Ashley used to be Ken Monk’s best friend and actually introduced him to Gemma when she was 14.
Despite the attack, Gemma wiped the paint off her face and body in the dressing room and borrowed a dress brought by an usher so she could marry her partner of more than 20 years.
“We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Nothing can stop me,” she said. “I didn’t think twice about it; if I had to, I would walk down the red carpet in my underwear with black paint on my face.”
The bride, a mental health worker, has since suffered from depression and has been unable to work.
However, Monk, a mental health worker, has since suffered from depression and has been unable to work. In a statement to the court, she said the incident changed her outlook on life and “made me question whether I had done something wrong, whether I had done something wrong.”
The couple also canceled their planned honeymoon in the Maldives because Gemma “wasn’t up to it”.
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“When I got out of the car with my dad, I had a gut feeling — a bad feeling that something was wrong,” Monk said. “But he said it must have been nerves.”
“I will never accept her apology,” she added. “I thought this sentence Too light. She should get at least 23 months waiting time as we have to take the matter to court. “
Original source of the article: Bride’s sister-in-law covered herself in black paint before ceremony in horrific ‘revenge’ attack
