Young woman repeatedly hit her gran over the head with wine bottle

Violence flared after the pair were involved in an argument for 'reasons that are not entirely clear,' Mr Andrew Wilkins, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Paige Pritchard was drunk and followed Janet Pritchard into the kitchen where she threw a toaster to the floor and picked up the wine bottle.

The defendant's mother intervened to halt the attack, said Mr Wilkins who added: "There was a considerable amount of blood but the injured party managed to crawl outside where a member of the public was flagged down and the police alerted."

Fortunately the bottle did not break and Mrs Pritchard received a one-inch laceration to the skull that required hospital treatment, continued the prosecutor.

Her clothes were covered in blood by the time police arrived at her Wolverhampton home where her granddaughter had been staying to 'fix her drinking problem,' the court heard.

Officers arrested the defendant who was found hiding in a bush in Fairfax Road, Fordhouses shortly after the incident on August 1 last year.

She was held in custody for 16 days before being given bail with a tagged curfew until the case was resolved.

Miss Cathlyn Orchard, defending, said: "This happened when she was drunk.

"She comes from a very close family and when sober she is delightful but when drunk she becomes somebody else. She had a problem with alcohol for two years but has not drunk a drop for a long time."

The defendant has voluntarily sought professional help to cope with the problem since the incident and had been forgiven by her grandmother, it was said.

Miss Pritchard from Finchfield Road West, Finchfield admitted assault and was given a 10-month sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work and £500 costs.

Judge Barry Berlin said this was because of her age and the fact that her 16 days in custody and subsequent tagged curfew meant she had already served the equivalent of an eight month sentence.

He said: "This was a difficult situation and you were trying to get off the drink but this is no excuse.

"If you do it again there will be no more mercy. You will go to prison."