Daughter screamed as Portsmouth mother '˜grabbed her hair' in assault

Mandy Merrett, 47, of Honeysuckle Close, Waterlooville, was spotted at night in Guildhall. Prosecutor Marie Fittall said: ‘The officer heard some screams from a female.

‘He saw Ms Merrett had hold of her daughter by the hair.

‘This was causing her to be pulled forward and bent over.

‘He tried to say to Ms Merrett to let go. He tried to physically release her grip off the hair of her daughter.’

She added: ‘Ms Merrett then threw a punch at the officer.’

When Merrett was arrested the daughter, whose age was not given in court, said she did not want to make a statement.

Merrett had ‘very little recollection of the events’, the court heard. She suffers from bipolar disorder and the assault was ‘a result of the lack of medication’.

She was given a 12-month conditional discharge with £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge after admitting assault by beating and assaulting a PC by a judge at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court.