A CHARD mother who assaulted her husband after accusing him of cheating on her then assaulted her teenaged son who tried to intervene in the argument.

During the incident at the family home she began self harming, cutting her arms with a knife, and then started flicking blood around the kitchen saying she would tell the police her husband had inflicted the injures.

When the police were called to the scene she ran off but officers gave chase and she had to be taken to hospital for stitches to her arms.

The 46-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to assaulting her husband and her son by beating them during the incident at Chard on June 6.

Courtney Daley, prosecuting, said that on the evening in question all three were at home when the defendant was drinking very heavily and ultimately became very drunk.

“The couple went to bed and the defendant began accusing her husband of being with another woman and she then punched him to the face which shocked him as she had never been physically aggressive towards him in 20 years,” she said.

“They went to the kitchen and the verbal argument continued and the complainant was shouting at his son to call the police but the defendant then picked up a knife and began to self-harm by cutting her hand.

“She began flicking blood around the room and shouted that she would tell the police that her husband had caused the injuries.”

The defendant’s son entered the room and shouted at his mum to calm down but she approached him and punched him in the face causing a red mark leaving him upset and angry as he had never been physically assaulted by his mother.

The police arrived and the defendant ran off but an officer gave chase and stopped her and she was arrested for assault. She received medical attention due to the cuts on her hand which required stitches.

“When she was interviewed she said she only had a vague recollection of the events due to the amount of alcohol she consumed and remembered a scuffle but could not say who started it,” said Miss Daley.

“She said she probably did assault her partner but would not have assaulted her son unless he was in the way and she had been lashing out.”

Her son made a statement which was read to the court saying that he was still angry a few hours after the incident that his mum had done this and she had been trying to get his dad into trouble.

“She gets drunk on the weekend but it is the first time she has hit me and I have my exams coming up and this is extra, unnecessary stress,” he said.

“I think she needs help and I definitely do not wish to see this sort of thing and my mum getting drunk.”

Defending solicitor Neil Priest said that it was a great shame his client had appeared in court as she had never been in trouble before despite being in a long term relationship.

“It appears as if she is quite downtrodden at home and often intimidated but she accepts she has a drink at the weekends and her reaction was to some intimidating behaviour from her partner,” he said.

“Her son was only hit because he got in the way between her and her partner and regrets very much what happened.

“She is very sorry for what happened and it was simply a one-off incident which was caused by the stress and pressures she felt at the time.”

The magistrates told the defendant they did not believe she would appear in court again and imposed an 18 month conditional discharge.

Costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge were also ordered.