A doctor ripped her husband's scrotum with her fingernails in a drunken row, a court heard.

Vianey Manzanillo De La Cruz, 32, allegedly grabbed hold of Alexandre Deband's testicles as he tried to throw her out of their flat in Bermondsey, south London, after a night out in April last year.

She also attacked her husband with an umbrella and threatened him with a knife, it was heard. Manzanillo was arrested but told police she was acting in self-defence.

Vianey Manzanillo De La Cruz, 32, left, allegedly grabbed hold of Alexandre Deband's (right) testicles as he tried to throw her out of their flat in Bermondsey, south London

The Old Bailey heard that Manzanillo, originally from the Dominican Republic, was training in Spain and had come to London last April to visit her husband, who works for French bank Societe Generale.

The couple, who are now estranged, went out on the night of April 4, and drunk tequila shots before heading to a nightclub in the West End.

They were told that it was too late to use their VIP tickets and Mr Daband, who had drunk more than his wife, was sick outside the venue.

He was sick again on the way home and vomited again once they returned home, jurors heard.

Prosecutor George Heimler said that Manzanillo suggested her husband should have a shower and started spraying him with very cold water once he went in.

Mr Daband, who is originally from France, said he pushed his wife away and went to bed but was woken a short time later.

He told the court that his wife removed the duvet before climbing on top of him. The banker admitted striking Manzanillo on the face to get her off.

The prosecutor said: 'She then left the room and comes back with a large umbrella and starts hitting him. She did brandish a knife at one stage.'

Mr Daband admitted he grabbed his wife's hair, claiming he was trying to throw her out of the flat.

He told the jury: 'This time she grabbed me by the testicles with one hand. She grabbed with some force and because of that I have been injured.'

Mr Daband said his wife had 1cm-long fingernails thought to have caused the injury. He phoned an ambulance when he realised he was bleeding.

He said he received stitches, stayed in hospital overnight, and when released had to change bandages on his wound for around a month.

Manzanillo was arrested in the early hours of Sunday 5 April last year after she phoned police and was later interviewed.

The prosecutor said: 'Essentially, her account was that her husband was extremely drunk. He had been drinking tequila.

'He asked her to leave the property, then he attacked her. He was dragging her around and during the course of that, in order to protect herself, she scratched his scrotum. She insisted she was not drunk at the time and acted in self defence.'

He explained to the jury that the issue was not if Manzanillo had injured her husband, but whether she had done so unlawfully.