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Teacher left blind in one eye after drunk woman smashes glass in her face at bar

Glassing victim: Lisa Bertsch, 30: Lucy Young
Glassing victim: Lisa Bertsch, 30: Lucy Young

A private school teacher has been left partially blind after another woman smashed a glass in her face during a night out.

Lisa Bertsch, 30, was at the Be At One bar in Richmond when she was hit in her right eye. The tumbler shattered and left Ms Bertsch, who lives with her boyfriend in Kingston, needing emergency surgery.

She said the attack happened when she tried to stop the assailant pouring a cocktail over her friend’s belongings. Ms Bertsch added that she had been left completely blind in one eye and was told by doctors that she might never regain full sight in it.

“I’m very, very scared,” she told the Standard. Ms Bertsch, who moved to London from Germany last year, said the woman fled after the attack, which happened in the bar in Petersham Road on Saturday, November 3.

The Met said officers were called at 4.25am to reports of a female being assaulted by another woman. No arrests have been made.

Ms Bertsch, who was with two friends, said the row broke out on the dancefloor. “She pushed us away,” she said. “We assumed we had bumped into her so we stepped away. After a while, I was pushed from behind by her. My friend said she also kicked me. We turned around, waiting for apologies. My friend was like, ‘What the f***?’ But she just started mimicking what my friend had said. She was very drunk. We didn’t want to fight, so we turned away. A friend of the girl came up to us and apologised for her.

Dancefloor attack: victim Lisa Bertsch's injury after emergency surgery (Lucy Young)
Dancefloor attack: victim Lisa Bertsch's injury after emergency surgery (Lucy Young)

“He then tried to help her get off the stool and out of the bar. She was stumbling around and there was a stool which we had put our belongings on. She tried to pour the contents of her cocktail glass on them, so I stepped forward to try to prevent her doing it.”

Ms Bertsch continued: “She completely freaked out and got very aggressive. She pushed me, I pushed her back, and then she swung her arm with the glass into my face. Part of it smashed into my right eye. I just remember feeling blood everywhere. Everyone was freaking out, crying: ‘Ambulance, ambulance!’ There was an off-duty paramedic who was amazing. He was so helpful.”

A spokesman for Be At One said the company was working with police to identify the attacker. He added: “We understand this is an extremely distressing situation and one that we would hope to see concluded swiftly by the police.”

Police described the attacker as mixed race, about 5ft tall and wearing a black jacket and skirt. She was last seen walking towards Richmond station. Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting CAD 172/November 3.