A WOMAN is facing a lengthy jail sentence after she was found guilty of stamping on her best friend’s face with a “lethal” stiletto heel – leaving her blind in one eye.

Melissa Causer showed no emotion when the jury in her trial at Teesside Crown Court delivered a guilty verdict on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 21-year-old attacked college pal Sophie Robinson during a violent row about a taxi fare following a night out.

The victim was pinned to the ground, punched and stamped on with the third blow from the heel of the silver stilettos Causer had been wearing penetrating her right eyeball and causing irreparable damage.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett had described the heels of Causer’s shoes as a “lethal weapon”.

Causer, a care assistant, of Browns Buildings, Middleton-St-George, near Darlington, who was supported by relatives in the public gallery, accepted she must have caused the injury to 20-year-old Miss Robinson, but said she did not mean to.

Alternative explanations offered by the defence for the injury included suggestions she had been caught by a ring or fallen on a sharp object.

It is understood Miss Robinson, from North Yorkshire, is due to be fitted a glass eye. She was not in court for the verdict and her family left without making any immediate comment.

The two women had been on a night out in Middlesbrough on January 10 this year and brawled on their return to Causer’s home, having initially fallen out earlier that evening over hairspray.

Judge Peter Bowers requested a statement from the victim and also thanked the jury for their efforts, describing it as a “serious case”.

Causer, who was bailed, is expected to be sentenced on September 3.

Detective Constable Neil Stannard, of Darlington police, said: “The family are happy that for now it is over and justice has been done.

“It has been a sad case where two lives have been ruined. Up until that fateful stamp they were two best friends, they would go out shopping together, go drinking together.

“This is the first investigation like this I have dealt with and there are lessons to be learnt. People need to be aware of the serious consequences that can follow if you cause somebody an injury like this.

“It was a moment of madness fuelled by drink.”