The daughter of Sussex Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse armed herself with a pickaxe handle after telling police her boyfriend beat her up, a court heard.

Frances Whitehouse, who denies having an offensive weapon, had been drinking and had a broken tooth and facial bruises when officers answered a 999 call from her flat.

A jury heard the 19-year-old refused to give details of her complaint and grabbed the 3ft pickaxe handle, saying she would "sort it out" herself.

Martin Griffith, prosecuting at Canterbury Crown Court, said police were called to Whitehouse's home in St Aubyn's, Hove, in the early hours of April 7 after she claimed boyfriend Lloyd Smith had assaulted her.

He said: "Police say her attitude was: 'You the police are not interested in any such complaint by me.'

"The police said, 'While you are drunk, we cannot take a statement from you'."

Whitehouse then left the Regency-style building and police went to look for her but could not find her. They returned later and saw her walking down the road.

Mr Griffith said she went back into her flat and armed herself with the handle. She then walked down the street with it.

Two officers went after her and saw her sitting on a wall outside a petrol station without the handle.

He said: "When police approached the defendant, she was extremely upset and angry.

"The handle had been put somewhere. They tried to speak to her and she told them to 'f*** off'. She said she was going to sort the boyfriend out."

Despite officers telling her they would take a statement from her when she was sober, she said that she would "sort it out" herself.

Whitehouse went into a phone box and rang her boyfriend. When officers approached to find the handle, she left the booth and grabbed it.

Mr Griffith said she was told to hand it over but she said she needed it. After a struggle it was taken from her. She kicked a car and was then arrested.

Whitehouse later told officers she was going to meet her boyfriend and had the handle for protection.

The court heard Whitehouse, now of Prince Edward Road, Lewes, was seen by a doctor who saw she had a bruised cheekbone, a bruise to her left eyelid and a chipped tooth as a result of the alleged attack by her boyfriend.

The case continues.