Clubber 'glassed girl who refused to dance'
A spurned suitor who was turned down in a Halesowen nightclub brutally attacked the woman with a beer bottle and then lashed out at her mother, a court heard.
Beautician Nicole Hill was left on all fours in a pool of her own blood after being attacked by Ashley Barton, jurors were told.
Miss Hill had to get seven stitches on a four-inch gash to her head, while her mother suffered cuts and bruises to her face, after violence broke out at Benjamin's in Birmingham Street. Miss Hill has been left with a permanent scar.
Barton, of Barneswood Close, Halesowen, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of wounding with intent and two charges of unlawful wounding.
He is now standing trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, which heard how Miss Hill and her mother, Lorraine were enjoying a night out in Benjamin's on November 16, 2013.
Mr Edward Soulsby, prosecuting, told the jury: "After midnight, an expectant suitor approached Nicole, namely Mr Barton.
"He was rebuffed and as a result of that he attacked her with a bottle of Budweiser that he was holding by the neck."
Speaking from the witness box, Miss Hill said she made it clear she was not interested in 28-year-old Barton and brushed him away. He repeatedly danced near her but she had a long-term boyfriend and no desire to dance with a stranger, she said.
After she spurned Barton's advances, Miss Hill told the court she saw him across the dancefloor and he was laughing at her.
It was at this point that he stuck his middle finger up at her, Miss Hill claimed, and she responded in kind and uttered a profanity.
She then said she saw him 'standing there holding a glass bottle upside down, by the neck with his arms out like he was threatening' but what happened next was a blur.
"After that all I can remember is being on all fours on the floor with warm blood all over me and not remembering what had just happened," she said.
"Blood was dripping off the back of my dress."
Miss Hill said she then went outside and saw Barton running away from the club and shouted after him. She said her mother was on the floor after tripping over when she walked over to confront Barton.
Mr Soulsby told the court the defendant then swiped out at the mother while she was floored, which saw her suffer a cut above her left eyebrow, bruises and a wound that meant she had to have her head bandaged.
The incident was 'completely out of character for Barton', said to Mr Soulsby.
The trial continues.
