A WOMAN who carried out a drunken attack, ripping out a clump of another female club-goer’s hair, narrowly escaped a prison sentence.

Danielle Forster could recall little of events in K2, Consett, on October 2 last year, due to the amount she had been drinking.

But, Durham Crown Court was told witnesses, agreed her actions sparked the clash, at about 12.30am.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said Forster twice approached the victim’s partner seeking a dance, and after being rebuffed, leaned forward and grabbed the woman’s hair before striking her on the side of the face.

Mr Baker said others intervened to break things up, but not before the victim lost a clump of her hair, ripped from her scalp.

She also suffered a bloodied black eye, plus bruising above her eyebrow, to her arm and elbow.

Mr Baker said it was several months before her hair re-grew, and she suffered anxiety in the wake of the attack, cancelling a job interview.

Forster, 29, of Front Street, Leadgate, near Consett, initially denied assault causing actual bodily harm, but changed her plea following a recent case conference.

Jane Waugh, mitigating, said Forster has since curbed her drinking, admitting she over-reacted to what she thought was a push.

Imposing an 18-month community order, Recorder Peter Makepeace told her she was lucky not to be receiving an immediate prison sentence.

He ordered her to perform 150-hours’ unpaid work and made her subject of a five-year restraining order, preventing her contacting the injured woman.