A “JEALOUS” woman assaulted her lover with hairspray and ruptured her eardrum in a drunken rage.

Sapphire Harman attacked her now ex-partner Chloe Allen after the defendant had demanded to see her mobile phone, suspecting Miss Allen of ‘cheating.’

The 24-year-old supermarket line manager of High Street, Pershore, admitted assault by beating when she appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court following the attack on April 4 this year.

The court heard that the couple had been in a relationship for two years and moved in together at the Pershore address in October 2017.

Nicola Ritchie, prosecuting, said: “In the early hours of April 4, the defendant and Miss Allen returned home having been out drinking. They were celebrating a family occasion in Pershore town centre.

“When they got back to their home address Miss Allen received a text message from a female friend.

“She says the defendant was not happy with this and she became very jealous and demanded to see her phone. An argument ensued between the two of them. Miss Allen refused to hand the phone over. She had it behind her back.”

Describing the assault, Miss Ritchie said: “Miss Allen says the defendant proceeded to then slap her across the face and punch her multiple times with a closed fist to her head and arms.

"She then picked up a can of hairspray and sprayed it into her face and onto the top of her head and Miss Allen put her hands over her head to hide her face from the spray. The defendant continued to attack Miss Allen, grabbing her arm and biting her on the thumb.”

The court heard Miss Allen bit the defendant on the lower left arm to get her to loosen her grip and ran down the stairs.

However, she was caught by Harman near the front door and she was shoved into a dressing table in the hallway, causing bruising to the small of her back.

Miss Allen went to a friend’s house and police were called. Injuries to Miss Allen included pain to the top of her head, lumps near the crown of her head and marks to her right upper arm.

She also reported difficulty hearing out of her right ear, which had been bleeding, and in a subsequent statement Miss Allen said she had been to see her GP who told her she was ‘suffering from a ruptured eardrum’ and ‘concussion’.

Miss Ritchie said: “She was also sick as a result of the incident.”

In a victim personal statement Miss Allen said she was ‘nervous about seeing Sapphire again as I’m frightened of her’ and was worried about the damage to her hearing in the long term.

Harman was of previous good character and told a probation officer she accepted the assault but denied spraying Miss Allen with hairspray or biting her thumb.

When her ex-partner refused to hand over her mobile phone she thought she was ‘potentially cheating on her’.

Elaine Atkinson, defending, described the relationship between the women as ‘volatile’ and said there had been arguments and ‘a lot of jealousy on both sides’.

“This lady has been assaulted quite substantially by the injured party in the past.

"It’s an odd case in that when the lady was taken into custody she had a very, very nasty injury on her arm which was the bite mark. But she did accept that she instigated the whole incident. She started it because she was jealous. Both had been out drinking,” said Ms Atkinson.

She said ‘Sapphire accepts she lost her cool’ but added that Miss Allen was ‘not an insubstantial female in her size and demeanour’.

The solicitor said it was ‘an irony’ that Miss Allen returned later that night to the defendant’s address.

Magistrates handed out a 12 month community order to include 20 rehabilitation activity days to help Harman with ‘anger management’, relationship issues and her drinking.

The order will also include 50 hours of unpaid work and a payment of £50 in compensation to the victim.

Harman was further ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge and £135 costs.

A restraining order was made for nine months which prevents Harman having any contact directly or indirectly with the victim or from going near her home in Hill View, Defford.