A WOMAN who claimed to have tripped over a three-legged dog will be sent to jail for scalding her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

Marie Bell poured a kettle full of boiling water over Steven Wade's head while he was sleeping on the sofa at friend John Doyle's Penhill Drive flat.

Yesterday a jury of four women and eight men took less than an hour to convict Bell of grievous bodily harm with intent .

In her defence, Bell, 56 of Ramsbury Avenue, Penhill, claimed Mr Doyle's three-legged Jack Russell Sacha tripped her up while she was holding the kettle and looking for a cup.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Mr Doyle said he was in the garden with his two dogs, Sacha and Mutley, at the time of the incident, and only returned to the flat when he heard Mr Wade screaming.

Lynne Henderson, prosecuting said: "She cannot explain why on this occasion she put the kettle on, waited two to three minutes for it to boil, then thought I haven't got any cups yet.' "It doesn't make sense and the reason it doesn't make sense is because this defendant wasn't trying to make a cup of coffee.

"It is impossible to explain the mechanisms of how she tripped. In fact it is a defence she puts forward that simply cannot have happened."

Miss Henderson said Bell was angry that Mr Wade had sent her daughter Jemma Watts a birthday card after their relationship ended a week earlier.

In the witness box, Bell branded Mr Wade a "stalker."

Mr Wade spent eight days at Frenchay Hospital's specialist burns unit for the injuries to his face and upper body and is left with permanent scars.

He told the court: "I woke up at about 5.30am, by feeling water on my head. I originally thought it was just cold water, someone having a joke.

"It wasn't until I felt the burn I realised something was wrong.

"I grabbed my jumper and pulled it off and threw it on the floor. I was screaming because it really hurt.

"I looked towards the kitchen and saw Marie there with the kettle in her hand. I said What did you do that for?' and she said You know why. My Jemma.'"

Swindon Crown Court heard that Bell has a previous conviction from 2004 for another assault.

Recorder Levene said: "I can say the only sentence will be imprisonment."

The judge ordered probation service reports but warned Bell she faced a jail term of three to five years.

Bell was bailed until sentencing.