A CHILDCARE worker sent a damning email to bosses after she was suspended for allegedly advertising herself as an escort, a court heard today.

Mandy Graham, 46, demanded a good reference from Northumberland County Council and threatened to distribute images of a manager dancing on a pub table with few clothes on.

No such images exist, Newcastle Crown Court heard, and her plan to frame a boss was swiftly uncovered.

Katherine Dunn, prosecuting, said Graham was suspended from her role as a residential childcare officer in January last year when allegations surfaced that she was working as an escort, and four months later she sent the council's executive director, Trevor Dougherty, an email.

In it, she anonymously claimed to have seen footage of a manager ''dancing in a public house in a sexually provocative manner wearing little clothing''.

The author wanted a good reference and if she did not get one she would distribute the images on the internet, the court heard Mr Dougherty contacted the police and she was traced via her computer and arrested.

The married manager was informed and left ''extremely upset'', the court heard, and was adamant that no such footage existed.

Graham, of Long Park, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, admitted sending a grossly offensive or menacing electronic communication.

Judge John Evans imposed a community order and ordered her to complete 80 hours' unpaid work and pay £250 costs.

He heard Graham sent the email when drunk and depressed following her suspension.

Tony Cornberg, defending, said: ''She had been there for 20 years.

''She replaced friends and her job with the consumption of alcohol.''

Northumberland County Council said Graham was fired in October after being found guilty of gross misconduct.