QMI AGENCY FILE

RIMOUSKI, QUE. - A stripper will spend the next nine months in jail for smashing a beer bottle over the head of a customer who refused to pay her.

Tamara Valcourt was sentenced this week for the Dec. 1 attack at the Chez Venus bar in Rimouski, Que., about a four hours' drive northeast of Quebec City.

The stripper, in her 20s, had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault last week.

Crown prosecutor Julie Gagne said Valcourt attacked the man as he was leaving the strip club without paying the $100 he owed for a booth dance.

"The defendant struck the victim with a beer bottle," said Gagne. "(He was hit) behind the ear and suffered a deep, four-centimetre cut."

The Crown and the defence agreed that Valcourt should serve an additional nine months on top of the 36 days already served.

The judge took into account the stripper's prior criminal record that included convictions for obstructing police in 2006 and assault in 2007.

She was also slapped with two years' probation and has been barred from the Venus club.

Defence lawyer Maryse Beaulieu says her client is sorry for what she did.

"The consequences could have been be extremely serious," said the lawyer. "She intends to resume her training to become a beautician."