Manchester Arena Bombing Survivor Permanently Disfigured After Pub Attack, Attacker Jailed

A 21-year-old woman, who was a teenager when she bit off a part of a woman's ear in a brutal attack that left the Manchester Arena bombing survivor permanently disfigured, has been jailed for three years.

Amy Bruce, a survivor of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, was enjoying a drink with her friends at a pub in Winlaton, Gateshead, England when they encountered Sophie Watson, who was high on cannabis and alcohol, reported Daily Mail.

After a disturbance, Bruce and Elizabeth Brown thought of leaving the pub, but then they waited for another friend to step out from the washroom. That's when Watson thought that they were laughing at her, so she approached them and dragged Brown by her hair, swung her around before hitting her.

Newcastle Crown Court recently heard that Bruce and others tried to stop the brutal attack, but Watson caught hold of Bruce's ear and bit off a part of it. The violence didn't end there as Watson challenged bystanders and then spat on the face of a female cop after being arrested.

Watson was 19 years old at the time of the incident, and now she is 21 and has been jailed for three years after she was convicted of assault by beating and affray, and wounding with intent. She also pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and assaulting the cop.

Bruce is still struggling to cope with the injury for which she needed 11 stitches and glue, and said that the savage attack as well as delays in the case had caused her a lot of stress, according to Chronicle Live.

She said, "It couldn't be re-attached and my ear will never be complete for the rest of my life." Bruce struggles to come to terms with how she looks now and can't face looking at her own reflection in the mirror, and will have to live with the deformity for the rest of her life.

She said that she feels a weight has been lifted since the case has been closed. She called the incident "one of the most traumatic events of my lifetime, only second to the Manchester Arena bombing," which she was present at.