Female British soldier accused of glassing her squaddie best friend in Magaluf nightclub has an international warrant put out for her as Spanish investigators look to quiz her over ‘attack’

• Sydney Cole, 22, allegedly glassed her friend Sarah Garrity on a 2019 night out
• A Mallorcan court issued a warrant after they failed to reach her for questioning 
• She was previously arrested and is out on bail, pending a potential trial 

Spanish police have issued an international warrant for a British woman who is accused of glassing her squaddie best friend in the neck during a night out in Magaluf.

Sydney Cole, 22, is out on bail after being previously arrested over the 2019 incident at Banana’s nightclub which ended with Lance Corporal Sarah Garrity in intensive care after losing four pints of blood and needing 14 stitches to a neck wound. 

But toady, a Mallorcan court has issued another warrant for the bus driver’s daughter from Hertfordshire, after failed attempts to inform her they wanted to question her again under oath, Ultima Hora reported.

Judicial sources said the Palma judge took action after Cole, who was based at Fort George Barracks in Inverness when she was arrested, changed address without notifying the court, in breach of bail conditions.

Cole’s indictment over the attack was said to be ‘just a question of time’ 16 months ago when it emerged she had been recommended for trial on a charge of attempted homicide. 

Sydney Cole (right) – a British soldier accused of throwing glass at her army friend Sarah Garrity’s (left) neck causing her to lose four pints of blood – has been issued an international warrant

Cole, 22, is out on bail after being previously arrested over the 2019 incident at Banana’s nightclub

Cole (left) insisted after her arrest that it was an accident and she threw the glass on the floor during a fight and shards hit Sarah (right) in the neck

The decision was announced by an investigating judge despite Sarah, 25, telling Spanish authorities she didn’t want to press charges after she left hospital. 

Defence lawyer Miguel Angel Ordinas has ended his relationship with Cole and a second defence lawyer understood to have been working for Cole is also believed to have quit.  

Spanish court officials are thought to have been unable to locate key witnesses who told police they saw Cole throw a glass directly at Sarah’s face after the pair rowed following an all-day drinking session. 

Cole insisted after her arrest that it was an accident and she threw the glass on the floor during a fight and shards hit Sarah in the neck. 

The pair were sharing a hotel room with another squaddie friend called Deborah Ferguson on the Magaluf holiday. 

Judicial sources said the Palma judge took action after Cole changed address without notifying the court, in breach of bail conditions (pictured during her previous arrest)

Cole’s indictment over the attack was said to be ‘just a question of time’ 16 months ago

Cole, who told police the fight broke out after Sarah tried to intervene in a problem she was having with Deborah, was remanded in custody for two days before her lawyer secured her released from prison. 

Sarah, who was serving in the Royal Logistics Corps when she was critically injured, told Spanish police after her release from hospital she did not want to press charges. 

Mr Ordinas, in his last comments on the case in November 2020 before he handed over the files to a colleague, said state prosecutors had yet to indict Cole. 

But well-placed legal sources in Mallorca said at the time they believed a trial would take place and the case had simply been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. 

One said: ‘Before state prosecutors indict her Cole has to be questioned again under oath. 

‘The problem has been that the coronavirus pandemic kicked in and it has to be done via videoconference and it’s been suspended on more than one occasion.

The pair (pictured) were sharing a hotel room with another squaddie friend called Deborah Ferguson on the Magaluf holiday

‘No date has yet been set for the court quiz. It could be another month or two months away. But it will happen and it’s a simple bureaucratic formality that needs to precede the issuing of the indictment.’ 

Another added: ‘I’d expect state prosecutors to indict Cole for attempted homicide given the investigating judge’s decision. 

‘That’s punishable in Spain by a prison sentence of five to ten years. ‘The indictment could be for a lesser crime of wounding with a dangerous object although it would be unexpected. 

‘But until the indictment is issued no-one can be 100 per cent sure.’ 

A relative of Sarah told the Sunday People at the start of November 2020 Cole had yet to apologise and the Army had let her stay on the same base for 11 months afterwards. 

Cole (left) told police the fight broke out after Sarah (right) tried to intervene in a problem she was having with Deborah

A source told the paper: ‘Sarah told the police not to charge Cole because she didn’t want to see a young girl banged up in a jail abroad. 

‘She expected her to be full of remorse but didn’t even get an apology.’ 

The source also claimed Army bosses told Sarah to ‘get on with it’ when she asked them to consider moving Cole after she got back to work three months later and found her still on Fort George barracks base. 

A family member of Sarah’s said: ‘We don’t feel the Army has looked after our girl.’ 

Cole is said to have left after having a baby and being given an Army house. 

An Army spokesman told the Sunday People at the time: ‘An investigation is ongoing following an incident with a British soldier in Spain last year. 

‘We take our duty of care to personnel very seriously. 

‘It would be inappropriate to comment further.’ 

State prosecutors in Majorca have always declined to make any official comment on the case, as is normal in Spain where only trials are held in public and the judicial probe that precedes the open court hearing is carried out behind closed doors. 

Because the new quiz has not yet taken place, the ongoing investigation into the Magaluf incident is not believed to have moved forward.

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