An alcoholic who dropped a baby on the floor as she swore at police had committed a string of violent offences, a court heard.

The 36-year-old woman also attacked a girl with a pen after running across railway lines and repeatedly pounded a woman's head against a wall and shouted racist abuse.

Kirsten Sharp, prosecuting, told Worthing magistrates who sat late into the evening yesterday to hear details of all the charges that police were called to South Farm Road, Worthing, on May 5 last year, following reports of a drunken female who had been seen with a child.

They found the woman swaying from side to side and smelling of alcohol.

Miss Sharp said: "She took the child out of the pram but was not holding the child tightly. The officers were concerned she might drop the child.

"She was unable to return the child to the pram because she was so drunk.

"At one stage, the baby fell through a gap in the pram and on to the floor. Instead of picking the baby up, she swore at police."

The woman also kicked an officer and had to be restrained before being taken into custody.

The defendant, who had spent the three weeks in custody before yesterday's hearing, attacked a woman on October 20, 2001.

Miss Sharp said a neighbour had gone to a disturbance outside her Worthing flat when the defendant "started shouting racist abuse and unpleasantries".

"Without warning, she slapped the neighbour across the face, grabbed her hair, pounded her head against a wall approximately six to eight times, dragged her on all fours on Woman's attack on off-duty PC in pub the ground by her hair and punched her on the head with a clenched fist."

They were separated by other people and the victim suffered bruising to her head and legs.

On September 22 last year, the defendant ran across train tracks at East Worthing station to attack a girl she had been threatening.

She stabbed at the girl's face with a Bic pen.

The victim tried to block the blow and received a small cut to her hand.

Miss Sharp said six days later, the defendant started threatening two men outside The Toad pub, in Chapel Road, Worthing, and lunged at one with a corkscrew before she was wrestled to the ground.

On December 15 she returned to the pub after drinking a half bottle of whisky and attacked an off-duty policewoman in the pub, pulling her hair and kicking her legs.

Magistrates issued an 80-hour community punishment order, a 12-month rehabilitation order, a six-month curfew order from 7pm to 7am, a six-month exclusion order from The Toad pub and ordered the woman to pay £50 compensation to her neighbour and £20 to the police officer attacked at the pub.

The woman pleaded guilty to being drunk in a public place with the child, assault by beating, two charges of common assault, assaulting a police officer, two charges of causing fear of violence and trespassing on a railway.