A TEENAGER who lost a kidney after she was shot in a street attack was herself a vicious bully.

Danielle Hobbs, 19, was lucky to be alive after she was shot in the stomach as she made her way to her home on the Biddick Hall Estate, South Shields, South Tyneside, on March 24.

She was placed on a life support machine and doctors had to remove one of her kidneys after she suffered extensive internal injuries.

But a court heard yesterday how the shooting was a taste of Hobbs' own medicine after she had subjected a teenage girl to a violent street mugging.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Hobbs battered terrified teenager Cheryl Davison before beating her unconscious in a separate attack minutes later.

Prosecutor Jamie Adams told the court how the attack took place on June 26, 1999, as the 15-year-old victim enjoyed a day out at South Shields fairground.

Afterwards, Miss Davison needed five stitches in a cut to her head and other hospital treatment.

While awaiting trial, Hobbs was shot as she made her way to her flat in Spencer Walk. Her injuries nearly killed her, before surgeons saved her life.

Hobbs, who now lives back at her parents home at Bardon Court, South Shields, yesterday admitted the assault.

But she escaped jail after the court heard how her brush with death had made her change her life.

In placing Hobbs on probation for two years, judge David Hodson said: "I accept that you yourself nearly died when you were shot and you now appreciate what it is like to be a victim and suffer injury."

Paul Wilkinson, 18, of no fixed address has been charged in connection with the shooting of Danielle Hobbs.