A SENIOR care assistant has been ordered to pay compensation after hurling beer at a barmaid, which sparked a mass pub brawl.

Susan Short was left with a cut to her face after the incident on October 15, last year, at the Cauld Lad, in Hylton Castle.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Lillian Tansey, 43, threw beer over barmaid Miss Short and triggered the fracas.

Miss Short's left eyebrow was cut after being hit by some flying glass.

Tansey, of Bletchley Avenue, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to affray. She was ordered to pay Miss Short £250 compensation and was conditionally discharged for 12 months.

Her drinking partner Nicola Palmer, 28, of Ramillies Road, Sunderland, was bound over for 12 months for playing a small part in the row.