'Ugly' author's 'plastic surgery'

Ms Briscoe is among the first black women judges in Britain

A barrister being sued by her mother over a memoir about childhood abuse has told a court she resorted to plastic surgery after enduring repeated taunts.

Costance Briscoe, 51, had treatment to her nose, lips and eyes as "to get rid of ugliness", the High Court has heard.

Her mother Carmen Briscoe-Mitchell, 74, of Southwark, south-east London, denies the allegations of systematic abuse detailed in her daughter's book, Ugly.

Ms Briscoe also told the court how she was punched for wetting her bed.

Ms Briscoe, a part-time judge from Crescent Grove, Clapham, south-west London, told the court she used university grants to pay for the operations.

My mother would call me ugly, call me a dirty little whore Constance Briscoe

She said she altered the bridge and bottom of her nose, both upper and lower lips and her eyes.

"I had it (the surgery) because my mother had for a very long time called me ugly, and I was conscious of my looks and I wanted to get rid of the ugliness," Ms Briscoe told the hearing.

The barrister said she used to wet her bed until the age of 14 and this irritated her mother, who had 10 other children.

"My mother would call me ugly, call me a dirty little whore, call me potato head... and Scarface."

Ms Briscoe told the court that initially her mother tried to help her but as the problem became worse she was beaten with a shoe, a belt, a cane or a stick.

Allegations 'lies'

Her mother would also keep the soiled sheets in a plastic bag and put them back on when Ms Briscoe got into bed, the court heard.

She also said her mother stripped her and punched and pinched her breasts and groin to punish her.

Mrs Briscoe-Mitchell, who is also suing publisher Hodder & Stoughton, said the allegations in the book were "lies" and she had a loving relationship with her daughter.

Ms Briscoe has defended the memoir as "substantially true".

Ms Briscoe, one of Britain's first black female judges, published Ugly in 2006, followed by a second volume, Beyond Ugly.

The case continues.