A grieving mother who was viciously assaulted on the anniversary of her daughter’s death has pleaded with the public to turn in the thug who scarred her for life.

Yvette Gill was smashed in the face with a bottle in an unprovoked attack by a stranger, leaving her with a deep wound which needed plastic surgery.

Last week the 31-year-old underwent more surgery after it was discovered she had also fractured her jaw.

Miss Gill, of Lower Grange, Bradford, was attacked in Westgate, Bradford city centre, shortly after midnight as she walked to get something to eat with her brother and his girlfriend.

She told how she had been for a couple of drinks with members of her family, to take her mind off the sad anniversary. Her daughter Maria was born prematurely in 2006 and died five hours later.

Miss Gill also lost a son, Mikail, in similar circumstances three years ago.

Miss Gill, who has a 12-year-old son, Junayd, and a nine-year-old daughter, Aliyah, said it had been a difficult day.

“The anniversaries are always hard, and my mum had suggested it would take my mind off things to go to her pub for a couple of hours, instead of being sat at home on my own.”

After leaving the pub, they were walking through the city centre and noticed a man “hassling” some girls in a phone box.

“We said something like ‘leave the lasses alone mate’ and carried on walking up Westgate,” said Miss Gill. “We turned round and saw the guy had crossed on to our side of the road and was holding a bottle.

“My brother, Wayne, shouted ‘get away mate’ but he carried on walking towards him holding the bottle by its neck, and swinging it. I said to Wayne ‘just leave it and we’ll go.’ The guy looked at me and the next thing I heard what sounded like a bomb going off in my ear and the whole bottle just disintegrated.

“The bloke ran off and my brother started chasing him, but his girlfriend called him back, saying I had been badly injured.”

Miss Gill was taken to hospital where she had plastic surgery and more than 15 stitches inserted in the wound. But months after the incident she was still experiencing trouble opening her mouth to eat and yawn and recently returned to Bradford Royal Infirmary for CT and MRI scans, which revealed her jaw was broken.

Miss Gill said: “They told me they would have to open up the side of my face from the ear lobe and I would have to have physiotherapy for the rest of my life. And they couldn’t rule out that my jaw wasn’t cracked or broken in another place until they operated.

“It’s traumatic. I will have to take a month off work and I won’t be able to watch my son, who has just signed a scholarship for Huddersfield Town, play his football matches.”

She said of her attacker: “This guy is very dangerous. He brutally attacked a woman. He can’t be allowed to walk the streets.

“This could have been worse. Anyone who knows this man needs to do the right thing and bring him to justice. He could do this again.”

Police have re-issued CCTV images of a suspect they want to speak to in connection with the incident, which happened between midnight and 1am on April 1 this year. A spokesman said nobody had been arrested.

The suspect looked tanned, was in his 30s, of medium build, 5ft7-9ins, with thick medium-length dark hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a brown hooded top.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Majahid Ashruff, of Bradford South CID, via 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

e-mail: steve.wright@telegraphandargus.co.uk