A driving instructor of 20 years is considering quitting her job after becoming the victim of a vicious road rage attack.

Teacher Julia Carr was kicked in the face when confronted by Deborah Keeble-Smith after a collision, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Keeble-Smith is starting a six-month jail sentence after the road rage attack on the Basildon driving school instructor.

The 34-year-old was said to have kicked instructor Julia Carr in the face and had to be pulled off her by a passer by.

Single mum Keeble-Smith claimed she laid into middle-aged Mrs Carr for grabbing the arm of her seven-year-old daughter in the fracas.

Trouble between the two women erupted after a collision near the Burnt Mills factory estate, Basildon, last March.

Prosecutor Sue Farr said Mrs Carr, an instructor for 20 years, decided to call the police because Keeble-Smith was uninsured. She went to grab the keys so Keeble-Smith could not drive off.

Then, for an unknown reason, Mrs Carr also held the wrist of the defendant's daughter.

Miss Farr said Keeble-Smith, of Laindon Link, Basildon, lashed out and kicked her in the head.

The victim was taken to hospital with a possible cheek fracture and damaged teeth. She says she is still traumatised by the beating.

Mrs Carr, who was teaching a girl pupil to drive at the time, is now considering quitting the driving school, it was claimed.

Keeble-Smith was arrested ten days after the attack.

She pleaded guilty at Basildon Crown Court to causing actual bodily harm. The court heard she had previous convictions for assault, threatening behaviour and public order offences.

Defence lawyer Robert Conway said Keeble-Smith was separated from her husband and struggled to bring up four children.

He said she was finding it difficult to cope with life and had tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose shortly before Christmas.

Judge Philip Clegg told Keeble-Smith, who apologised to Mrs Carr for the injuries, that he had some sympathy for her because of the way her daughter became involved.

The judge said had it not been for that she would have received a far heavier prison sentence.

However, she over-reacted at the time and the assault had "a devastating effect" on Mrs Carr whose confidence was now broken, added the judge.

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