A finalist in the Miss England competition is facing assault charges along with two other women after a bar fight in a pub in Kent.
The Daily Mail reports that Miss England finalist Olivia Cooke, 21, and her mother, Julia, 46, were both involved in the Kent, England, fistfight with a third woman named China Gold, 26, which left two of the participants injured.
Olivia Cooke, who is still participating in pageants, required 10 stitches above her eyebrow, and suffered nerve damage to her left eye. Her mother explains that she will require additional procedures to prevent permanent scarring.
“She has scarring and she will need plastic surgery. She still has numbness at the top of her head,” Julia said.
The Miss World organizers say that they are aware of the pending legal charges, as Olivia Cooke is facing a charge of assault by beating. The elder Cooke has admitted to a charge of actual bodily harm, and Gold, who received a black eye, is accused of maliciously wounding the younger Cooke, who will compete against 55 other women for Miss U.K.
Olivia Cooke is also said to be a professional golfer, and was encouraged to compete in pageants by her father, Phil Cooke, who was Mr. U.K. in 1996.
Strangely, this is not the first time that a Miss England competitor has gotten into trouble with the pageant’s organizers for being in a bar fight, reports CTV News . In 2009, the reigning Miss England, Rachel Christie, was stripped of her title after getting into a bar fight with Miss Manchester, Sara Beverley Jones.
Pageant organizers released a statement confirming that Christie would not compete in 2009’s Miss World pageant in South Africa.
“Rachel Christie has also withdrawn from next month’s Miss World competition in South Africa. They said in a statement that the 21-year-old heptathlete will now focus on clearing her name and training for the 2012 Olympics.”
In that case, the Greater Manchester Police said that the altercation took place at the city’s Mansion nightclub, where Christie was arrested and later released on bail.
Metro added that Christie, who is the niece of Olympic sprinter Linford Christie, was accused of punching Miss Manchester in the face over a fight regarding Miss England’s boyfriend, Tornado, from the television series, Gladiators .
Rachel Christie’s spokesman released a statement saying that the beauty queen was upset by the incident.
“She is really devastated by what has been alleged but we are fully supporting her,” the spokesman said.
