A WOMAN who brought chaos to the East Coast Main Line at Christmas, with an on-track suicide bid after trying to rob a schoolgirl, has been spared prison.

Rachel Baines was told by a judge that she would have been jailed for two years had she not been suffering from a mental illness at the time of the incident.

Baines assaulted the 15-year-old girl when she was walking with friends close to Darlington town centre.

Baines demanded money from her and then fled into the railway station.

A court was told that Baines went onto the line and was finally talked to safety by a former partner, who was called in by police after a lengthy and tense stand-off.

The 26-year-old drug-user, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was detained in the West Park psychiatric hospital, in Darlington, for a week after her arrest. Yesterday, she was given a community order with 18 months of probation service supervision and a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement with monthly reviews.

Judge Brian Forster, QC, told her: “If you do not take this opportunity, if you commit further offences, I have made a clear note that this offence would normally attract a sentence of two years.

“Before you do anything, you need to stop and think ‘am I choosing to go to prison for two years?’.”

Baines, of Hallington Head, Newton Aycliffe, admitted assault with intent to rob the schoolgirl on December 30, last year, and asked for two shoplifting offences to be taken into account.

Teesside Crown Court was told that she stole chocolates from a Co-op store, in Darlington, to sell for drug money, and food and drink from a Ken Warne shop.

When she attacked the schoolgirl in Parkgate, Baines grabbed her by the arm and said: “I’ve got a knife, give me your money”, Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, told the court.

She then released the teenager and walked towards the train station, saying: “I would watch your back if I were you.”

In a statement, the girl said: “It made me feel very intimidated and scared and I was very upset, even after the incident. I believed the female genuinely had a knife and intended to use it on me.”

Judge Forster told Baines: “I clearly keep in mind your condition at the time. It is right that the public should know that, but for that, the sentence would be two years’ custody.”