Miss England finalist, 21, glassed in the face by yob reveals pub attack ‘ruined her life’ and left her with £5k bill
A HORROR pub attack shattered a model's dreams of becoming Miss England and left her facing a £5,000 plastic surgery bill.
After years of preparing for the Miss England title, Olivia Cooke saw her dreams go up in smoke when a woman smashed a wine glass in her face after a pub row.
China Gold, 27, was found guilty of unlawful wounding on Thursday after the court heard how she struck Miss Cooke in the face with a wine glass.
Professional golfer, Olivia, said the bust-up and lengthy police probe had wrecked her bid for Miss England and left her riddled with anxiety after being charged with assault for allegedly lashing out herself.
She told : "I've been in a dark place for the past 18 months.
"I'll be driving in my car and just break down in tears."
Maidstone Crown Court was told the row began in October, 2018 at The Farm House in West Malling, Kent when Olivia heard car recovery boss Gold make "crude comments" about her sex life and falsely claim she was seeing two men.
Gold then grabbed Olivia, 21, by the throat and hit her twice with a gin glass.
"She was calling me a sl** and a sl*g, I'd no idea what she was talking about," said the model.
"All I remember is her striking me twice in the face. There was so much blood.
"I was so scared. My face was so swollen doctors thought I had a broken jaw and there was so much blood in my eye I thought I was blind."
Paramedics took Olivia to Maidstone Hospital where doctors removed slivers of glass from her face and stitched her up.
I was so scared. My face was so swollen doctors thought I had a broken jaw and there was so much blood in my eye I thought I was blind.
The 5ft 5in model who is under nine-and-a-half stone said she had dreamed of becoming Miss England since she was 16.
She competed in last August's Miss England final but missed out on the top spot which would have won her a place at Miss World.
Olivia, who is from Barming near Maidstone, believes she was the victim of a smear campaign when anonymous sources rang Miss England organisers to tel them about the police probe.
The 21-year-old model, who works at Redlibbets Golf Club in Kent, said she received a call from Miss England saying she would be disqualified if she couldn't prove she was innocent.
Despite sending them police records and interviews, the model believes the police probe had a detrimental impact on her chances in the competition.
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Gold will be sentenced on April 27 and could face a jail term of more than three years.
Olivia is waiting to see a plastic surgeon about the scar on her head but plans to apply for Miss England again this year.
During the trial the jury was told Olivia's mum, Julie, pleaded guilty to assault after rushing to the pub and punching Gold in the face. She will be sentenced on March 27.
