A WOMAN who was spared jail for her third act of drunken violence was told by a judge: “Next time, don’t expect the same mercy.”

Mother-of-three Claire Jeffrey was given a suspended prison sentence for attacking an innocent drinker in a town centre pub in May last year.

Teesside Crown Court judge John Walford heard how 30-year-old Jeffrey also has convictions for wounding other revellers in 2001 and 2003.

In 2001, she was locked up for three months for breaking a woman’s nose and causing a jaw injury after pulling her from a taxi outside a nightclub.

Two years later, Jeffrey was given a community rehabilitation order for pushing a glass into the face of a drinker at a different Middlesbrough club.

Judge Walford told Jeffrey she could have been jailed for two years for the second offence, which left the victim with a deeply cut face and hand.

Imposing a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, for the latest crime, the judge said: “If you appear before the courts again, you should not expect the merciful approach you have received today.”

Jeffrey, of Kimberley Drive, Middlesbrough, was also given 18 months of supervision, and was ordered to pay £250 compensation and £750 costs.

The shop worker admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Marie Leeming in The Star in Southfield Road, Middlesbrough, on May 9.

Ms Leeming, 27, suffered a v-shaped cut to her top lip after being given “a back-hander” and falling to the floor, said Jim Withyman, prosecuting.

Rebecca Smith, mitigating, said Jeffrey had grown up the victim of violence, and had been in a ten-year relationship dogged by beatings from her partner.

“There was a realisation that she was mirroring the behaviour of those who were committing offences against her,” Miss Smith told Judge Walford.

“For the first time in years, she understands the consequences of her actions. She realises that to perpetrate violence towards another is not the answer.”

Judge Walford told Jeffrey: “You, on several occasions in your life, have proved yourself to be a foul-mouthed, drunken, violent, objectionable woman.

“I hope by imposing financial penalties, not only will it compensate your victim and help to reimburse the public agency, but also limit the amount of money you have to spend on going out and making a nuisance of yourself and ruining the lives of other people who go out in the hope of enjoying themselves.”