Sutton mum smashed neighbour's window and attacked him

Kathleen Wilkinson confronted her neighbour in her back garden and accused him of spreading rumours about the social services visiting her, three days before the attack.

At around 11pm, on August 5, she began kicking his back door and shouting at him to come out, said prosecutor Robert Carr.

“He and his wife were in bed when they heard the sound of things being thrown at the house and a loud noise of breaking glass,” he said.

Police were called, but when the neighbour unlocked the front door so they could come in, Wilkinson burst in swinging punches and shouting about the social services.

“He dodged the punches and she fell to the floor, but got up again and began swinging,” said Mr Carr. “Two to three blows landed before a female neighbour intervened.”

Wilkinson, 32, of Main Street, Huthwaite, admitted common assault and criminal damage, when she appeared before magistrates in Mansfield, on Thursday.

The court heard she had one previous conviction for theft in 2014.

Tim Haines, mitigating, said: “She accepts that she was in the wrong. She has been living there for six years and her neighbours moved in two to three years ago.

“Her version is they have created issues for her almost from day one. She has significant mental health issues which are being properly addressed by the relevant agencies.

“She says there was some goading and provocation which she was unable to ignore because of her underlying issues.”

He said she had “probably taken comfort in a couple of bottles of wine” and had not taken her medication the night before.

Wilkinson had not been able to face attending the funeral of her 12-year-old nephew, Mr Haines said.

She told police: “I deeply regret what I have done. It won’t happen again.”

“I think this is an unusual one-off incident,” said Mr Haines, adding that housing charity Framework was now looking to re-locate her.

She was given a 12 month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £100 compensation for the window, which will be deducted from her benefits.