An innocent peck on the cheek from a friend sparked an explosion of violence that ended with a woman in hospital with a broken neck.
Kirsty Adjei-Mensah’s life was changed for ever after a get-together for drinks in her mate Susan Robson’s garden.
She was being walked home by Robson’s husband when her friend became suspicious.
Robson, 37, followed them into a nearby lane and believed they had been or were about to kiss.
Kirsty insists she was mistaken, saying he had only given her a “peck on the cheek”.
But Robson launched such a ferocious flurry of punches and kicks that Kirsty heard her neck break.
She thought she was about to die.
Even today, 13 months after the sickening assault, Kirsty, 42, is haunted by flashbacks, has post-traumatic stress and is suicidal.
She struggles to make new friends and has only 50 per cent movement in her neck.
And she can no longer work in her former role as a customer services adviser.
Robson admitted GBH with intent and was sentenced last month to four years.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday People, Kirsty said: “I remember the sound of my neck snapping when she kicked me in the face. I thought I was going to die.”
Now she has four scars, at the front and back of her head, where a halo brace to support her neck and spine was screwed in.
Kirsty said: “The flashbacks kept me awake at night. That was the worst. I couldn’t see a way out of the pain and I wanted it all to end.
“The only thing that stopped me was my daughter. I have terrible anxiety and PTSD. I find it hard to leave the house.”
But instead of people sympathising with her, she has became a target of hate since Robson was sentenced.
She said: “People called me up and terrorised me after Susan was jailed. I’ve had eggs thrown at my windows.
“People have called me up to say terrible things because they must think I did something with her husband. I don’t deserve any of it.
“What happened with Susan has left me unable to trust anyone. I can’t maintain a friendship now. I don’t go out, I hate having to meet new people.”
Kirsty and Robson had immediately hit it off after meeting through a friend in common four years ago.
Kirsty said: “Susan seemed really fun. We used to have a laugh. We liked shopping together. We went to the Christmas market in Newcastle one year and had a lovely time.
“She had a car and would give me a lift to places. We confided in each other, trusted each other and had a good friendship. I feel betrayed.
"She has completely changed my life. I’m suffering the worst pain imaginable.
"She can rot in jail for what she has done. She needs to learn a lesson, no matter how long that takes. I want her to stay in there forever.
“She has never tried to apologise or reach out. All she did was try to get the charges against her reduced.”
Kirsty’s ordeal began after she was invited to Robson’s house in Kenton, Newcastle, along with some close friends. They all sat in the garden drinking.
When Kirsty said she was leaving, Robson’s husband offered to walk her home.
Kirsty claims: “Susan was fine with it. Her husband told her and she didn’t bat an eye.”
But she later became suspicious and started looking for them. Newcastle crown court heard how she found them in a lane near her home.
Kirsty said: “She shouted to both of us, ‘So that’s where you both are.’
“I remember thinking it was strange because it was such a charged reaction.
“She completely got the wrong end of the stick, then she went for me.
“I remember her kicking me over and over in my stomach and winding me. When I thought she stopped she dragged me into a nearby alley by my hair.
I couldn’t see her husband anywhere, and wondered if he had gone to get help.
“She started kicking me again and somehow I managed to get on all fours. I held a hand out to get her to stop, while I caught my breath.
“When I lifted my head to look her in the eye, the last thing I saw was her foot swinging towards my head at full force. I actually heard my neck crack before I passed out.”
Kirsty was rushed to hospital. A year on, Kirsty still receives intense physio.
She said: “The attack robbed me of my independence which I’m only just starting to get back now.
"I couldn’t do anything for myself and had to rely on carers to help me wash and use the bathroom. It’s humiliating and degrading.”
After nine days in hospital, Kirsty had to wear a big, heavy head brace for three months.
She said: “The doctors said I had to stay awake to have the brace fitted in case something went wrong with them drilling into my skull.
“That was almost as bad at the attack itself. I threw up all over my head and neck and I passed out several times.”
Robson was also given a five-year order preventing her from contacting Kirsty.
The jury heard Robson had eight previous convictions, including GBH for attacking a woman she accused of jumping a taxi queue in 2016.
Prosecutor Emma Dowling said: “The defendant’s husband offered to walk her part of the way home, saying he wanted to visit his mother on the way back, which he did.
“The defendant formed the view the defendant’s husband was about to kiss her.
"What is clear from CCTV is she was repeatedly assaulted by the defendant in two separate incidents five minutes apart in the same location.”
Kirsty said: “She’s a dangerous woman and I never want to see her again.”