SHOP worker Joanne Lacey floored another woman in a drunken row on the way home from a Southampton pub.

Lacey, 25, lost her temper with 59-year-old Jan Tyson - with whom she had been having a "hot and cold" relationship - after being struck over the head with a bottle.

Lacey punched her in the face and after picking her up, threw her to the ground again where she kicked her about the head and body. Lacey walked away but then returned to the victim and kicked her again.

Toby Case, prosecuting at the city crown court, said she then began to get worried when Ms Tyson appeared to be unconscious.

A trained nurse, who had witnessed the attack, administered first aid and Lacey stayed with the victim before she was taken to hospital.

Judge Michael Harington heard the woman discharged herself before receiving treatment but returned the following day for head wounds to be closed. But five days later, she suffered an infection and had to be detained in hospital for about a fortnight.

Lacey, of Windermere Avenue, Millbrook, pleaded guilty to wounding and was ordered to do 150 hours community service as well as pay £300 compensation.

The judge said people who normally kicked others on the ground invariably went to prison but, because of the reference he had read, the background to their "on and off" relationship and the fact that she had been attacked first with the bottle, he was taking "an exceptional course".

Francis Abbot, defending, said the violence was the culmination of their intense relationship. "It was blowing hot and cold and both were uncertain what was going to happen. It was sparked off by my client being hit over the head with the bottle. There was an explosive loss of control. It's unlikely to be repeated.''