A 20-YEAR-OLD woman has been handed a suspended prison sentence for shouting obscenities at passers-by after drinking a substantial amount of alcohol.

Victoria Little, of The Foyer, Bath Road, appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with using threatening words or behaviour and assaulting a police officer.

Crown prosecutor Pauline Lambert told the court that on November 3, police were called to The Foyer, in Bath Road, after Little was seen shouting and swearing at the top of her voice.

She was arrested, and as she was being put into the police van she attempted to bite and scratch a police officer before landing a kick to the side of his face.

Ms Lambert said the officer had stars in his eyes after being kicked in the head.

It transpired that Little had been in court earlier that day to face previous drunk and disorderly charges. She had become bored during proceedings and went to buy a can of lager.

Then, when proceedings were over, she bought a bottle of vodka and became drunk quite quickly.

Little admitted being alcohol-dependant and Ms Lambert said she kicked the officer because she didn’t agree with being arrested.

Sambreen Arif, defending, said: “What’s this 20-year-old girl doing and why is she in such a state, you might ask?

“The anxiety of being in court that day on November 3 caused her to drink.

“She has been alcohol-dependant for some time now. and unfortunately she decided to drink a lot of vodka. She then found herself in this horrible situation where she was shouting and the police turned up.”

Ms Arif described her client’s behaviour as “a cry for help”.

She said: “There was something going on inside her head at the time that caused her to act in this manner.

“She is clearly not in the right frame of mind and is emotionally distressed at the moment.”

Ms Arif urged the bench to consider the distress the defendant would have experienced at being put into the back of the police van.

Magistrates handed Little a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to the police officer and a victim surcharge of £116.