Mother's baseball bat threat to bullies

A vigilante mother who used a baseball bat to threaten teenagers she suspected of bullying her son at school has been spared jail.

A court heard that single mother of four Natasha Hayley, 30, acted in frustration at a lack of action by police and the school over her son's claims. Mr Recorder James Mulholland, QC, sympathised with her over the "horrific" bullying.

But after seeing CCTV film of the clash on a bus he said she had gone "off the scale" and branded her actions "incredibly stupid".

However, he said he was not prepared to deprive her children of their mother by jailing her.

Hayley, of Dartford, was given a six-month suspended sentence, ordered to do 150 hours' unpaid work and put under curfew after admitting affray.

Maidstone crown court that her 11-year-old son had complained of being assaulted and robbed at Wilmington Academy.

Hayley said she took the bat to confront the alleged bullies in case she "got rushed" but now accepted that she had "gone over the top".