"unprovoked and unwarranted'' attack on her by a Pembroke man.

Pauline O'Connor said the accused, Ellsworth (Ellie) Wilson, had begun shouting at her because she did not recognise him.

Wilson, 55, of Mount Hill, denies attacking Ms O'Connor with a glass after 1 a.m. on January 27 at the Spinning Wheel Nightclub. He is charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm Ms O'Connor suffered a broken nose, a deep cut from just below her eye to her upper lip and a cut to the gumline.

"I came back from the bathroom and saw a man talking with my sister,'' Ms O'Connor said. "He asked me if I knew who he was and I told him I didn't know him. He started pushing me in my chest and asking me if I knew who he was.

"I looked at her as if he was somebody that I should have known. He kept shouting `you don't f***ing know me' and `don't you f***ing know who I am'.'' She added: "I told him I didn't appreciate him putting his hands on me. I slapped his hand away and then he pushed me into the wall.'' Ms O'Connor admitted that she eventually swore back at Wilson and became angry herself. The pair were separated and she continued to talk with her sister, Diane Simpson.

But "between 20 minutes and a half hour later'' Wilson approached her and "all of a sudden and unexpectedly'' she felt pain "like a thousand needles'' to her face.

"I didn't know what I had been struck with, but I had just put my glass down,'' Ms O'Connor said. "I tried to see but there was so much blood I couldn't.

She added: "I opened my eyes again and focused and saw glass down at my feet.

I pushed my nose back in place and ran to my friend and then out the door.'' Ms O'Connor admitted she pushed Wilson back in the first scuffle but had tried to "forget about'' the incident.

"I felt something in my face before I could react or anything,'' she continued. "Yes, I had become agitated after he began pushing me.

"I couldn't believe it! I couldn't believe that he would do something like that just because I didn't know who he was.'' During a lengthy cross-examination by Mr. Mark Pettingill Ms O'Connor admitted she was "retaliating'' for the attack via testifying.

She added: "I was afraid. I retaliated to protect myself. That was instinct to push him back. But I thought things had simmered down. This was unprovoked and unwarranted.'' Ms O'Connor admitted she would fight back "depending on the circumstances and situation'' but denied Mr. Pettingill's suggestion she "loudly'' swore at Wilson in front of the relatively sparse Wednesday night clubgoers.

She added: "No, I didn't. No, I didn't, Mr. Pettingill. No, I didn't. This is my body -- I didn't invite him in.

"I felt he didn't have a right. But I didn't hold any grudges and I thought it was over.'' Ms Simpson described leaving the club's restroom and seeing Wilson with his arm raised and approaching Ms O'Connor.

While she did not see the actual impact, Ms Simpson said she saw her sister crumple before rushing to her and taking her outside to go to the hospital.

Mr. Pettingill grilled Ms Simpson on the contents of her Police statement, made two days after the incident.

Ms Simpson insisted that she only heard "raised voices'' in the bar and suggesting the voices were not necessarily Wilson's and her sister's.

Ms Simpson also said the time between the pushing incident and the attack was just five minutes.

"You told Police at the time that you heard them talking to each other in raised voices, isn't that true?'' Mr. Pettingill asked. "You agree that was what you said to Police?'' "I heard voices, okay? That's what I heard,'' Ms Simpson answered. "I gave you the most important parts. Him raising the glass and my sister saying `ow'.

I'm telling you what I saw.'' The trial continues this morning before Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons.