A SHERIFF has admitted he has “no idea” how to avoid sending to prison a woman who carried out an assault in the centre of Dumbarton.

Nicola Brown committed the attack in High Street on December 4, 2014, when she seized hold of another woman by the hair, pulled her to the ground and repeatedly punched her on the head.

Brown, 42, appeared before Sheriff William Gallacher on Thursday for sentencing for the attack – and also for failing to appear in court on January 6 and May 25 last year.

Brown's solicitor, Lauren Kerr, admitted she was “concerned” at how her client presented herself in court, saying she was “clearly upset” as a result of recent changes in her circumstances.

But Sheriff Gallacher said: “Not a thing do I believe in relation to anything that she has said or done.

“I have no idea how the court can in any way intervene for the benefit of the community as far as this individual is concerned, apart from removing her from the community.

“I don't see any basis at all for saying 'let's keep going in the hope something changes'.

“It's ludicrous. If she told me today was Thursday, I'd have to check.”

Sheriff Gallacher said he needed time to think about how to deal with the case – and when Brown returned to the dock an hour later, she did so clutching her face, Miss Kerr stating that her client had fallen within the court building in the intervening period, cutting her knee and face.

Sheriff Gallacher told Brown that he had been able to consult another sheriff who was dealing with other matters in which she was involved, and that that sheriff, Maxwell Hendry, was willing to consider all matters together on February 16.

Sheriff Gallacher told Brown: “It's hard to visualise that you are anything other than some kind of nuisance in this community.

“With hesitation as to whether there is any realistic option other than to part you from this community, I'm going to continue this matter further.”