A TEENAGER has tearfully told a jury of the night she says she was attacked with a broken bottle - and the lasting damage it has caused.

The assault victim was left with a permanent scar on her face in the incident n the street in Shildon, County Durham, in September 2013.

Clair Sowerby, 21, is on trial accused of causing the horrific wound - but claims she never used a weapon and was acting in self-defence.

The teenager told Teesside Crown Court how she also suffered nerve damage to her head and has to take pills every day to ease the pain.

She said she needs steroid injections every four weeks, suffered a blood clot to her face and may have to face further surgery this year.

The nursery assistant said she was attacked after confronting Miss Sowerby about snide remarks she had made on a night out together.

She said the defendant referred to her as "it" and "that" and called her a slut, and continued the name-calling at a friend's home later.

The 18-year-old said she felt "uncomfortable and awkward" and walked out of the house after asking Miss Sowerby to say things to her face.

Moments after leaving the property, she says, she was struck across the back of the head, heard the sound of glass smashing and was bottled.

Fighting back tears giving evidence, she recalled the moment she put her hand to her face - and it went straight through the gaping wound.

"At the point she glassed my face, I could not feel it, it went really, really numb," she told the jury of seven women and five men.

"It was only after I could taste the blood . . . At first I didn't realise she had glassed me. The I actually put my hand through my face.

"That's when I threw myself to the floor. I was in the foetal position, trying to protect myself. I could feel someone kicking and stamping on me.

"I was screaming so that someone could hear me . . . it felt like forever. I was being struck in my head, my back and my ribs."

Answering questions from prosecutor Mark Currer, she said when she took away her hands she saw clothing which did not match Miss Sowerby's.

Miss Sowerby, of East View Terrace, Shildon, has pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent, and an alternative of unlawful wounding.

She says grabbed the teenager by the hair when she thought she was going to be attacked, dragged her to the ground and tussled.

(Proceeding)