A woman had part of her finger bitten off outside a Kent nightspot, a court heard.

Anne-Marie Buchanan was left screaming in agony outside Jolson's in Folkestone as the severed piece was put on ice in the hope it could be re-attached.

But surgeons were unable to do so and the P&O Ferries stewardess needed plastic surgery to repair the damage.

Now, her attacker, Sally Quinnell is facing sentence after a jury convicted her of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Miss Buchanan went out with a group of friends in Sandgate on September 14, 2008 to celebrate a 21st birthday.

They ended up at Jolson’s nightclub in Folkestone around midnight.

Miss Buchanan said while she was outside having a cigarette a fight broke out.

“It went on for about 10 minutes,” she told the jury. “They were taking their shirts off. It was oh my god, look what’s happening.

“I was talking to this young lad I know. The men started attacking him. That’s when this lady was beside me.

“She went over to get involved. I told her not to. I said: 'Stay out of it, you will get hurt.’

“I think her partner was fighting. She was shouting and screaming. She stood next to me after that. She seemed fine.

“Then she flew back into the fight and started hitting. It was getting really nasty. I went up to her. I don’t know why I got involved really.

“I fell on the floor. We fell over. The pain was unreal. My middle finger on my left hand was being bitten. I couldn’t pull it away.

“My hair got pulled. I started screaming. There was a lot of blood. I looked down and saw my finger.

“Someone from the nightclub picked the finger up and put it in a cup with some ice. An ambulance arrived and I was taken to hospital.”

Miss Buchanan said she later went to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for plastic surgery.

Quinnell, 42, of Burrow Road, Folkestone, denied inflicting grievous bodily harm, claiming she did not recall biting anybody.

She was granted bail until sentence on about July 22.