A SHOP worker was this afternoon convicted of a broken bottle attack which left a teenage friend scarred for life.

Clair Sowerby was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a three-day trial.

The 21-year-old, from Shildon, County Durham, sobbed uncontrollably in the dock when the verdict was announced.

Relatives in the public gallery at Teesside Crown Court also burst into tears, and her boyfriend shouted "f***ing disgrace."

She will be sentenced some time next month after background reports have been prepared on her by a probation official.

The judge, Recorder Eric Elliott, QC, granted Sowerby bail, but warned her to expect to be locked up when she returns.

He told her: "You have been convicted of a very serious offence and the inevitable sentence will be one of imprisonment."

The incident happened in the street in Shildon in September 2013 after a group of young women had been out together.

The victim - a nursery assistant - was attacked after she left a house party because Sowerby was making snide comments.

She was followed outside, smashed over the head with the bottle, then slashed across the face and neck with the jagged end of it.

Sowerby, of Roseberry Terrace, Shildon, had pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent, and an alternative of unlawful wounding.

The jury of seven women and five men took less than an hour of deliberations to return its unanimous guilty verdict.

Defence barrister, Shaun Dryden, told Mr Recorder Elliott: "She is obviously aware of the inevitable sentence in this case."