A former escort has won damages from the millionaire lover who attacked her with a wine bottle in a luxury Barbados hotel.

Property tycoon Ian Howie, 50, denied assaulting Nicola Richardson as she tried to leave their room on the holiday island.

But Judge Michael Kennedy QC told Worthing County Court yesterday he believed her version of events and awarded her £10,000 for the scars she suffered in the attack.

He threw out a second claim for £30,000 Miss Richardson, 34, from Bexhill, alleged she was owed after Howie took back the gifts he lavished upon her during their stormy three-year relationship, including luxury cars and designer clothes.

Howie said she repaid him by trashing his properties and plundering a bank account to buy drugs.

Howie, who is serving six years in jail for plotting to have Miss Richardson killed after their break-up in 2000, had claimed he merely slapped her.

He said he tried to fend her off when she threatened him with the bottle during the three-week trip to Barbados.

Miss Richardson's solicitor Jo Holden said: "She is very pleased to have succeeded in the claim for personal injuries, which caused her great distress and anxiety.

"She wants nothing further to do with Howie and wants to put her past behind her."

The court was told how Howie splashed out thousands of pounds in vain efforts to rescue self-confessed heroin addict Miss Richardson from the "druggy underworld".

But when their relationship faltered, Howie tried to hire a hitman to have her killed, mistakenly offering the contract to an undercover detective.

He was jailed for six years after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

Outside court Howie, formerly of Davigdor Road, Hove, said: "The whole thing has been a nightmare from start to finish. The person I feel sorry for is my son.

"He sees it in the paper just as we are starting to put this behind us and I'm getting ready to come out of prison."

Howie, who is hoping to be released from his prison near Gloucester on January 4, paid £3,000 into court three years ago to have Miss Richardson's claim settled.

He said: "I don't have any issue with her at all. It's like winning the lottery without buying a ticket.

"If you've got legal aid and you can get someone to be paid £30,000 to pursue a claim, you have got nothing to lose.

"So I blame the system rather than Nicola. It was nice to see her again. I was just shocked at how ill she looked."

Howie stood by his claim that Miss Richardson's heroin addiction had led to their clash.

He said: "The judge got it wrong. Because she suffered the injuries, she got the sympathy. But I blame myself because I was there to look after her.

"She just seemed so vulnerable. She just needed someone to help her out. She's a very bright, very intelligent girl. If she'd been the daughter of a judge, she'd be a leading barrister by now."

Most of a counter claim launched by Howie against Miss Richardson was dismissed but she was ordered to return a set of curtains and a carpet she removed from a flat that he had arranged for her to live in at St Leonards.

After the verdict, Howie told of his delight at having the documents for his Mercedes returned.

Divorced Howie, who has a 21-year-old son and an autistic 18-year-old daughter, described how he was a millionaire "many times over" before the Barbados incident but said his fortune had largely disappeared.

He said: "What she told me was that she worked as a prostitute to support her children. She didn't want to do it but it was the only way she could earn enough money.

"I accepted that. I almost admired her for it."

Asked if he would use prostitutes again, he replied: "Once bitten, twice shy."

The allocation of costs among the parties was to be settled at a later date, the court was told.