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A CRAZED writer hunted down a teenager and bottled her – for giving his book a bad review.

Richard Brittain, 28, a former champion on TV show Countdown, travelled almost 500 miles from his home near London to confront Paige Rolland, 19.

He brutally smashed a wine bottle over her head as she stacked shelves in the Asda store where she worked.

Yesterday, Brittain admitted the assault, which happened in October last year in Asda in Glenrothes.

Sentence was deferred at Glasgow Sheriff Court pending reports and he was remanded in custody.

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After his court appearance, Paige, now a student midwife, spoke of the horror of the attack, which came without warning and left her with a gaping head wound.

The teenager said: “Had he hit me any harder, I could have died.

“My first thought when I realised I had been assaulted was for my mum and how awful it would be for her to get a phone call saying I had died.”

Brittain, from Bedford, tracked Paige down using her Facebook page after she left an unfavourable review of his self-published book, The World Rose, on review website Goodreads.

Keen reader Paige said she bought the book after seeing Brittain, who won Countdown in 2006, leave several arrogant messages on the website describing it as “wonderful”.

She said: “I thought it must be amazing as he was very arrogant and telling famous published authors their opinions were meaningless.

“So I bought it and didn’t like it. I think I only managed a few chapters before I had to put it down.

“It was pretentious and not very good and I said so on Goodreads.

(Image: Daily Record)

“I did receive some anonymous messages harassing me and telling me I was terrible and I wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“I did think it was him and the moderators of the websites helped me sort it out. I thought that was the last of it until the morning of the attack.”

Paige was stacking shelves in the Asda cereal aisle and bent down to get something on the bottom shelf.

Without warning or saying anything, Brittain then approached her from behind and smashed a wine bottle into her head.

Speaking of the moment she was attacked, Paige said: “When I stood up I thought something hit me on the head.

“At first, I thought that maybe I’d hit my head off the shelf and, as everything started to spin and go black, I wondered how I could be so stupid as to hit my head so hard.

“My vision was black and my hearing was muffled.

“I did not pass out and turned and put my hands out to lower myself to the floor gently, which is something my mother has always taught me to do should I think I’m going to pass out.

“I heard the tinkle of a bottle on the floor and I thought that something had fallen on me. Blood was covering my hands and dripping down my arms.

“Without the pressure on my head, the blood spread down my hair and the back of my neck.

“Before I went into shock for the first time, a colleague pressed towels to my head and someone covered me with a heavy jacket to try and stop it from happening.

“I heard one customer say to my colleague that someone had come from behind me, hit me with a wine bottle and walked away.”

Prosecutor Harry Findlay told the court: “Brittain went to the alcohol aisle and picked up a bottle of wine. He then went to the aisle where the complainer was working.

“He approached her from behind, she was kneeling down collecting cereal from the bottom shelf of the aisle.

“The accused approached without warning, any provocation or words and he struck the complainer on the back of the head with the bottle.

“One blow. It made contact and the wound bled immediately and she had a moment of unconsciousness.”

Brittain was identified from CCTV footage at the shop and traced a short while later by detectives.

Paige said: “I’ve never met Richard Brittain, never spoken to him. I knew it was him from pictures on the internet.

“I couldn’t believe it. The attack has left me nervous and fearful. I find it difficult to meet new people and am nervous in big crowds.

“I have bad anxiety and I feel nervous if I see anyone who reminds me of him.

“I’ve just started university and I’m nervous putting my opinions across.

“I find it weird and creepy he tracked me down and travelled to Scotland to assault me.

“But then his book was about a woman he was stalking for years. The fact that he assaulted me and didn’t say a word is horrifying.

“He actually got a friend to message me thanking me for helping him to ‘see the light’, whatever that means.”

Paige is glad that Brittain spared her facing him in a courtroom by admitting the offence.

She said: “I’m relieved about the guilty plea. It’s just a huge weight off my chest.

“I was completely enraged when I was told he was pleading not guilty to force a trial because he did do it and I felt sure that he knew exactly what he was doing.

“The not guilty plea made no sense to me.

“Now that he has entered a guilty plea, I feel more balanced in myself.

“I’m still angry, but I find it easier to deal with now. This feels like justice without the emotional difficulties that come with fighting for it.

“I’m just glad it’s now going to end and I can try to get on with my life.”