A 30 year old woman bottled her stepfather in the face during a row had suffered abuse at the hands of her victim, a court heard yesterday.

Victoria West, of Brooklyn, Crudwell near Malmesbury admitted assaulting Richard Taylor on October 27 causing him grievous bodily harm when they were both living together at the same house in Churchill Road, Nailsworth, nr Stroud.

Prosecutor Janine Wood told Judge Michael Cullum at Gloucester crown court that West made an hysterical 999 call after the attack.

“She identified herself to ambulance and said 'I have hit him over the head, he is bleeding badly,'” Mrs Wood told the court.

Mr Taylor could be heard in the background shouting: “You smashed a glass over my head, bottled me. F**k off and die!"

The prosecutor continued: “She screamed 'You hit me in the face. I reacted badly.'

“She told the call handler 'It's like a murder scene. There is glass everywhere'.

“It was hysterical on both sides,” Mrs Wood told the judge. “Very emotional, arguing back and forth between the two of them.”

The police attended the house and found West outside 'covered in blood'.

Mr Taylor had a 'large laceration on his head, bleeding heavily,' the prosecutor said.

“From the amount of alcohol and shattered glass, officer said it (the bottle)was full when hit,” Mrs Wood said, adding that Mr Taylor required eight staples to close the wound and 'all the layers of skin down to the skull were severed'.

The court heard that Mr Taylor would not make a statement and refused to give evidence against West.

The court heard that West had eight previous criminal convictions for sixteen offences.

Giles Nelson, representing West, said: “This is a very unusual case - she rang the police. The evidence comes from her. No statement from him.

“The background is very unsavoury,” the barrister added.

Mr Nelson said that Mr Taylor had 'struck her in the face first, and she responded in that way'.

He said that West was presently subject to a probation order and now living with her real father in Malmesbury.

“There was a dreadful event, relatively recently, that seems to have coincided with the change in the victim's attitude towards her,” Mr Nelson said referring to the death of West's mother and Mr Taylor's partner.

“The nature of the relationship changed,” The barrister said. “The full details have not quite been gone into in the pre-sentence report. That was a feature of that relationship.

“This defendant remained living with the stepfather. Dealing with that with an underlying long standing alcohol problem.

“I put her on any view as a vulnerable individual, therefore I would invite the court to follow the probation recommendation.”

Imposing a suspended jail term, Judge Cullum said: “What is apparent is your stepfather had hit you, and you reacted to that, clearly not proportionately.

“There is a background of an abusive relationship. Him being abusive to you. There is no statement from him.

“The pre-sentence report gives all the indications of abuse from a variety of people including your victim.

“It makes your case highly unusual.”

The judge noted 'a variety of disposals over the years to address your alcohol relating offending'.

West was given a nine month jail term suspended for eighteen months and ordered to attend thirty rehabilitation activity sessions.

“If you re-offend you will be sent to prison,” the judge said to her. “It is up to you.”