A DRUNK mum hurled abuse in front of four young children and admitted to attacking a fellow parent outside a school.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard there had been “growing tension” between Charlotte Edwards, 32, and another parent of a child at a Colchester primary school.

This tension culminated in an argument outside the school on March 2, during which Edwards launched punches at the victim, causing bruising.

School staff defused the situation and reported the assault to the police.

However, the court heard in a separate confrontation on April 21, Edwards headbutted another woman at a park.

Both attacks took place in front of children.

In a statement, the first victim said she had lost sleep over the attack and felt stressed when picking up her child from school.

On January 15, police received a call reporting a drunk Edwards appeared to be shouting and screaming at passers-by while having a duty of care for four children.

The court heard the shouting was causing the children, who were all aged under ten, to become distressed.

When police arrived and arrested Edwards, she pulled a bag of cannabis from her bra.

Edwards admitted two counts of assault, being drunk in charge of a child and possession of cannabis.

Ralph Pigott, mitigating, said Edwards had suffered with postnatal depression, with prescribed medication the “underlying cause” of her behaviour.

He said Edwards had been falsely accused of spreading gossip about another parent which she denied and added: “There was some bad blood.”

On being drunk in charge of children, Mr Pigott said: “Miss Edwards concedes she had had a drink, she was shown body worn footage of the incident and she admits it doesn’t look good.

“While she admits she had a drink, she says she was nowhere near as intoxicated as the footage made out.”

He added: “She suffers with anxiety and depression and she panicked, she is quite demonstrative when talking in any event and it may look worse than it actually was.”

Magistrates ordered Edwards, of McCluskeys Street, Colchester, to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She must also pay £150 in compensation to the victims or her assaults.