A COURT has banned a woman from visiting a pub after she drunkenly punched the landlord up to six times.

Rachel Bainbridge, of Oakley Green, West Auckland, was given an exclusion order banning her from going to the Crown Inn, Crook, for six months, after she was convicted of common assault on the landlord.

The 34-year-old also admitted racially or religiously harassing a police officer after using racist language while in custody and obstructing a police officer, after a drunken night on January 13.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates heard that she was having a good night at the pub when she got into an altercation with another punter over a spilled drink.

As staff tried to escort her from the premises she fell to the floor and wrongly thought the landlord had knocked her over.

John Clish, on behalf of Bainbridge, said while the landlord thought she punched him six times, she believed it was about four times.

After leaving the Crown she went to a kebab shop and when she saw the police arrive she ran.

Mr Clish said: “The defendant has a current case against Durham Constabulary with a complaint into the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to an incident when she was in police custody.

“That incident has caused a few mental scars and going back into custody has perhaps offered a rationale as to why she did run from the police.

“Matters have continued when she has gone into police custody. She has unfortunately demonstrated clearly inappropriate behaviour towards the custody sergeant.”

In a victim impact statement, the police officer who had been racially abused by Bainbridge said: “The defendant had the conscious mindset to differentiate between my ethnicity and that of the other officers. She has needlessly used racist language towards me."

The landlord said he was shocked by what happened and said: “The woman just flipped.”

Magistrates fined her £80 for the first two offences, with no separate penalty for obstructing a police officer and ordered her to pay £50 compensation to each victim.

She was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge and has been banned from going to the Crown in Crook for six months.