A FEMALE mugger who struck at a cashpoint after latching onto a group of strangers had downed a "quite amazing" amount of booze, a court was told yesterday (Tuesday, December 23).

Donna Trowsdale's one-night binge on four litres of cider, a bottle of Amaretto liqueur and four pints was four times the weekly amount recommended for women.

Her barrister told Teesside Crown Court it was "a miracle" she was able to stand up let alone plan and carry out the late-night Middlesbrough.

The 36-year-old mother-of-two snatched £120 from a student after joining the teenager and her friends as they drank in a town centre pub in August.

The alcoholic was jailed for 22 months after she admitted robbery - an almost identical street mugging to two she was locked up for six years ago.

Caroline Goodwin, mitigating, told the court: "The fact that she was able to consume that amount of alcohol, it is a miracle she could stand up.

"She has a real problem. She recognises that she has been throwing away - and has thrown away - what are effectively the best years of her life."

The court heard how Trowsdale's children would not visit her while she was in prison on remand, and she will find it difficult being alone at Christmas.

In a statement, her 18-year-old victim branded her "violent and careless" and told how she constantly fears attack and is anxious when alone.

Prosecutor Sue Jacobs told the court that Trowsdale approached the students, introduced herself as Destiny Marie and told them about her troubled past.

After leaving the pub, they went to a nearby hole-in-the-wall machine, and when the victim tried to withdraw money, Trowsdale shoved her out the way.

She pressed for £200 to be dispensed, grabbed the notes, tussled with the teenager, and handed back £80 before fleeing, Mrs Jacobs told the court.

Miss Goodwin said: "She had consumed, quite amazingly, two two-litre bottles of cider, a bottle of Amaretto, four additional pints and further drinks which she cannot recall.

"This was, unhappily, spontaneous offending, in drink, and she very much needs help. The nub of her offending is a heavy addiction to alcohol."

Trowsdale, of Normanby Road, Eston, Middlesbrough, admitted robbery, and was told by Judge Deborah Sherwin: "While you were out, you also took cocaine.

"When you are sober, you recognise when you take alcohol you can become unpredictable. You are incapable of controlling it and offences like this are committed."