Woman denies attacking Bird

Fairfax

APPEAL: Former NRL star Greg Bird and his American girlfriend, who he was convicted of glassing in the face, will be allowed to give evidence at his appeal hearing.

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A woman who accuses former NRL star Greg Bird of assaulting her in a Sydney club denies she was drunk but admits to memory lapses of the night.

Victoria Shannon, 21, told a court that Bird was only half a metre away when he threw a bottle at her head, swung punches at her breasts, swore at and insulted her after an encounter outside the toilets at Fusions in Cronulla.

The one-time Cronulla Shark, who now plays in France, is facing five assault charges over his alleged involvement in a fight in the early hours of January 19, 2008.

But the stocky five-eighth says he is the real victim of the assault.

A teary Ms Shannon told Bird's assault hearing she was left bleeding and shaking after the alleged attack, which she says began after the pair knocked shoulders as she walked out of the toilets.

"I felt a barge on my left shoulder and then I turned around and I said 'are you right?'," Ms Shannon told Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday.

"I didn't really think anything of it (until later) as we were ordering a drink I felt a kind of tap on my shoulder.

"I turned around and saw it was Greg Bird and I was just, like, 'are you right?', and he started swearing and was, like, 'are you f***ing right?'."

She told the court Bird then took a bottle of Smirnoff Ice and poured it over her head.

"He kept saying 'you f***ing slut with tattoos' and I was, like, 'you don't even know who I am'," she said.

"And he got his bottle that he had tipped over me and he threw it at my head knocking my right earring out of my ear.

"(Then) he started getting really aggressive trying to throw punches."

Ms Shannon told police and the court she had only had three glasses of champagne but under cross-examination admitted her recollection of the evening was hazy.

In her evidence she said she had not visited any bars other than "Northies", the North Cronulla Hotel, and Fusions, but Bird's lawyer Patrick Conaghan said the times she provided in her evidence did not add up.

"On your evidence it took an hour and a half to get from Northies to Fusions, correct?" Mr Conaghan put to her.

"No," was Ms Shannon's response.

"Well if you left (the North Cronulla Hotel) at 10.30 ... and got to Fusions at midnight, that's an hour and a half," he pressed.

"That's because we went to Sting Bar," she said.

"You remember that now, do you?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm not sure. I can't remember. It was 18 months ago," she replied.

Ms Shannon admitted she had also been drinking at Sting Bar.

She also tripped up in her evidence by saying she had been punched first three and then five times, and a friend held back Bird from hitting her during and then after the hits.

She repeatedly burst into tears and asked for breaks.

At one point Mr Conaghan asked magistrate Jayeanne Carney to remind Ms Shannon of the importance of truthfulness under oath.

Ms Shannon's account differs greatly from Bird's, who alleges he was sober when set upon by two women while trying to escort a friend's drunk girlfriend from the club.

Earlier in the day, Ms Shannon's sister Sarah Shannon, who was with her on the night, denied she had been "incredibly intoxicated". She also rejected "taking a swing" at Bird because he insulted her sibling.

The hearing continues.

-AAP