A WOMAN accused of breaking another woman's jaw with a kick has claimed she was the victim of a nightclub assault.

Giving evidence in her own defence, Laura Jane Smith alleged that stranger Leanne Coulson threw a drink over her at the Gallery, York, and seemed to be wanting a fight.

She said Ms Coulson and a third woman, a friend of Ms Coulson, set upon her inside the entrance of the club

After door staff separated the women, she ran after Ms Coulson and hit her.

Smith alleged that she then kicked out in self-defence at Ms Coulson and caught her under the chin.

Smith, 24, of Marston Avenue, Chapelfields, denies causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Coulson, now 22, on November 1, 2001. The jury has heard that the 22-year-old woman suffered a broken jaw after both were thrown out of the club.

Smith told the jury at York Crown Court that she had been drinking that evening and was a bit merry.

She had never seen Ms Coulson before the incidents at the Gallery.

Earlier, Donna Watson, one of the door staff, told the jury she heard Smith say she did not want the police called after the kicking incident.

"She was quite smug. She wasn't bothered about what she had done," Ms Watson said.

Smith denied that she had been smug. She said she was concerned about whether Ms Coulson had been injured.

Ms Watson said she saw Ms Coulson and Smith punching each other and swearing outside the club entrance, but did not see who started it and did not see a third woman.

She alleged that later Smith kicked Ms Coulson as she was lying on the ground and was not retaliating. Door staff separated the pair.

The jury heard that Smith made no reply when arrested at about 1.40am in Clifford Street

When interviewed, she said: "She started it and that is all I have got to say."

The trial continues.

Updated: 12:02 Thursday, December 19, 2002