A woman threw a drink over a model before smashing a gin flute into her arm following a night out celebrating her mum’s 50th birthday.

Kia Steward, 24, had been out celebrating in Liverpool’s city centre when she went the Underground Gin Society in the early hours of June 2 last year. When they went inside, Steward came across Ellie Young, a young woman who she knew for several years but was not on good terms with due to a previous dispute.

Instead of leaving the bar and avoiding a conflict, Steward threw gin from a flute over Ms Young before smashing the glass into her arm and her shoulder. Prosecutor John Keane told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday that Ms Young and her friends were approached by Steward. The court heard after throwing the drink, Steward made for the exit. But CCTV showed Ms Young followed her and grabbed the defendant.

Steward then turned and smashed the gin flute into her, using it “as a weapon.” According to the Liverpool Echo, Mr Keane said: “the glass smashed causing substantial injury to her forearm and shoulder.” Ms Young’s forearm was 4.5cm by 2.5cm and was “down to the muscle.” Mr Keane added police closed the bar and patrons were asked to leave via the rear exit while crime scene investigators analysed the scene.

Ms Young was taken to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital where the wound was treated to remove broken glass. She was later transferred to Whiston Hospital where she underwent surgery. A victim impact statement read to the court said the incident had turned Ms Young’s “life upside down.” She added the attack was a “nightmare without the concept of reality” and added: “I feel repulsed by the inhumanity of the situation…I will always bear the scars, both visible and invisible.”

Ms Young said she believed she was going to die and that she “could see the bone” when she looked down at her arm injury. She said in time she managed to re-watch the CCTV but was reminded by how traumatic the incident was.

When interviewed on July 8, the defendant said accepted having thrown the drink before leaving to take a taxi home. Steward, who has no previous convictions, was initially charged with section 18 wounding, before entering an alternative guilty plea for section 20 grievous bodily harm when she appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on January 22 this year.

Defending barrister Jamie Baxter said the incident was “completely out of character” for Steward. He added the injuries to Ms Young were caused recklessly but there had been no evidence the glass had been used as a weapon.

He told the court: “It appears the injury was caused during the altercation when the stem broke, this is not a case when the weapon was smashed and then used.” Mr Baxter said a number of references showed a different side to Steward and described her as a “caring, loyal young woman”.

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Michael Armstrong told Steward “it would seem this incident was due to a resentment or ill-feeling” and the defendant had “impulsively lashed out” after she had “started a chain of events that led to the assault.” Steward, of Amethyst Close in Litherland, to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months.

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