Mince argument

A woman who tipped a pot of mince over her mother's head in a row about how it should be cooked has escaped being jailed for attacking emergency staff.

Lisa Devers, 19, from Muthill, Perthshire, called 999 for help fearing her mother, Patricia Hilton, could have been burned by the minced meat. When paramedics arrived, Devers flew into a rage, the court heard.

At Perth Sheriff Court, Ms Devers, who admitted the assault on 26 February, received 120 hours' community service. The court heard the incident happened when the mother and daughter went home after drinking.

Fiscal depute John Malpas said: "An argument ensued regarding food preparation." Devers then attacked her mother as the row moved onto phone use.

Mr Malpas said: "During the course of the incident a pot of mince had been thrown over a person in the house and it was thought it might have burned that person."

Devers then struggled violently with police officers who arrived at the house with ambulance staff. She admitted attacking her mother, resisting two police officers and assaulting a paramedic and an ambulance technician.

Solicitor Peter Keen, defending, said the incident started as a minor domestic fight, adding: "There was no need for the ambulance, because although the mince had been thrown it wasn't hot mince."

Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "Courts are here to protect paramedics who are called to the scene of incidents like this."