A teenager who was the victim of a terrible Ashby bullying attack seen by thousands online - leaving her in hospital - is now making a name for herself in the beauty industry.

Katie Morris, 18, wants to show others going through the same ordeal that, no matter what has happened to you, it is possible to focus on a successful career path.

She has only been involved in the industry for just over a year - but found herself being described as a future star at the National Hair and Beauty Awards.

Katie, who works at Vibe Hair and Beauty in Coalville as a nail technician, was fourth in the Rising Star category and 30th in the Nail Technician of the Year category.

But Vibe Hair and Beauty also achieved 42nd place in the 'Best Salon Team'.

It is a far cry from six years ago as a pupil at Ivanhoe College in Ashby when she was attacked by bullies 'for wearing the wrong trainers'.

The incident was filmed on a mobile phone and posted online where it was viewed almost 300,000 times.

Katie, from Coleorton, had to be treated in hospital as a result and was left with anxiety problems, losing so much confidence that she could not hold conversations with people.

But she says working at Vibe has completely changed her life.

Katie has had huge support from her co-workers at the Belvoir Road salon as well as making an impact in the National Awards.

She recalled the Ivanhoe College incident and says she has used the 'negative as a positive' in terms of creating her own career path.

Katie told Ashby Nub News: "There was a big press coverage about it at the time.

"When I was 12 and at Ivanhoe College, I was getting bullied throughout the year and no-one was doing anything to help.

"It got to the point where they were three or four girls who beat me up in front of 400 kids, it was really bad.

"But it's an achievement that I can now turn round to those people and show them what I'm doing.

"They can see it.

"For the next couple of years after the incident I struggled really badly with my mental health at Ashby School.

"It wasn't the bullying I struggled with, it was the aftermath of it.

"It depends what sort of person you are as to how you take it.

"Some people take a negative and turn it into a positive.

"This is the reason I want to talk about it, because you can go from being so closed to growing into someone much more confident.

"Once, I would never happened able to talk to someone like this on the telephone.

"With this job I'm meeting people all day.

"You're constantly talking, so to go from not being able to talk to anybody and being so scared, to just being able to talk and talk is great.

"Coming to work at Vibe was also really good for me, when I started I was so shy.

"I was anxious all the time, and it's helped me so much being here and the girls here are all amazing."

Katie has gone from not knowing where her career would take her when she left school, to now being 100 per cent certain.

She added: "I left Ashby School at 16 and had no idea what I wanted to do.

"I chose hair and beauty at college but I didn't know which direction I wanted to go.

"But as soon as I got into it, I absolutely loved it.

"I started at Vibe as an apprentice and I've gone from there.

"I picked it up quickly, and began doing nails in January, 2020.

"Then we went into lockdown in March, so I've not worked there as long as it looks.

"We were off from March to July, then from December again and we were only back in on Monday.

"But I've been building my kit up over the year and practising at home.

"I put myself out there as much as I could on social media.

"Then I went to the awards and did all of that.

"Someone had mentioned the awards to me and that it was going to be run virtually. So I said: 'I'm just going to do it', and all of us made the finals - and the team got the 42nd award.

"But I didn't think I was going to get anywhere, because it was my first year.

"I'm not anybody huge, but the people I was put alongside with, it was madness. They are my idols.

"It was a really tough competition.

"This is definitely what I'm going to stick to now. There are so many routes you can go off onto as well, I don't just do nails, I do anti ageing facial treatments with electronic machines."