A WOMAN who deliberately smashed a Champagne glass on a student's face at a private party is waiting to learn her punishment.

Rebecca Townsend also slapped the female student in the face and threw a drink in an unprovoked attack that cut the victim close to her eye as well as elsewhere on her face, said Katy Varlow, prosecuting.

The student had been about to go home at the end of a private party in Hillam, near Selby.

"It was a deliberate attack with the glass in the defendant's hand, smashing it on the victim's face," said Mrs Varlow.

She said the victim had been chatting to one of the bar staff hired for the event when Townsend approached, and the bar staff had suggested she leave. She had moved away with a smile, but Townsend had said "Don't ... smirk at me" and attacked her.

Townsend, 30, of Park Road, Kirklees, Dewsbury, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm. York magistrates decided the case was too serious for them to deal with and sent her to York Crown Court for sentence where judges can give longer sentences than their maximum of six months in jail.

She was released on bail.

Townsend's solicitor Kristina Lancaster said she had drunk so much that her memory of the incident was hazy. She was so shocked by her actions, she had sought therapy and medical help.

Mrs Varlow said the victim had had severe headaches for seven days. In a victim impact statement, she told police: "I was very upset, asking people what I had done to deserve it. I couldn't understand why someone would attack me with a glass."

She said the attack had led to her having eczema caused by stress and she was extremely nervous when going out with friends.

Mrs Lancaster said Townsend had no previous convictions. "It is completely out of character for her."

She had matters in her background for which she had been receiving therapy, but had not been to see her therapist for two months before the attack, she said. She had now resumed her appointments.

She had also seen her doctor, who had diagnosed her as possibly suffering from minor depression and she was following her advice as she tried to get to the bottom of why she had acted in the way she had.