A WOMAN who was found in the street with a three-foot pole and a 12-inch kitchen knife has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Mother-of-two Jodie Beetham, 28, was seen in Grayswood Crescent, Holme Wood, shortly before midnight on August 22 last year, shouting at a group of people in the street and waving the weapons in their direction.
The court heard that Beetham, who is pregnant again, had been assaulted by the group and showed police her injuries. She got the pole from a friend's house to defend herself and admitted fighting with one girl.
Judge Peter Benson said the courts could not tolerate people getting drunk, arguing in the street and arming themselves with weapons. The previous attack on her and her injuries did not justify what she did.
Beetham admitted affray and two charges of having an offensive weapon in a public place. She was sentenced to six months imrpisonment suspended for two years, with a 30-day activity requirement.
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