Bottle Stop battle hit by Facebook trolls

Jane Sheriff launched the Bottle Stop campaign after her husband Philip, 37, was slashed across the throat at a party in London.

Ashley Charles, 26, was jailed for 14 years in November last year. Jane launched a campaign to ban glass bottles from late-night city centre bars in the wake of her husband’s death. But she has been forced to step back when Charles announced he would be appealing the sentence.

Throughout his trial he denied murder, claiming he had oly lashed out with the bottle because he feared Mr Sherriff, from Scorton, was going to attack him.

Facebook trolls posting ‘negative’ comments also threatened to undermine her efforts. Jane said: “I want the law to change, I just don’t think I’m strong enough to do it.”

The campaign attracted massive support on social networking site Facebook and an online petition attracted the 100,000 signatures necessary to trigger a debate in Parliament. But Jane was dealt another blow when a planned second reading in Parliament failed to get through.

She said: “When the appeal was announced, that’s when I hit rock bottom. I am not sure whether I am going to leave Bottle Stop now.

“Every time I talk to someone new about it I have to go through it all again”