A single mother left Magistrates' Court with a conditional discharge after assaulting another woman last year.

The court heard that on June 9, 2007, Michez Smith, 23, of Spring Benny Road, Sandys, approached a young woman about her relationship with a man, who was her boyfriend at the time.

According to Ms Smith's testimony, things turned violent after the woman laughed in her face. She told the court: "It's just an issue between boyfriends and girlfriends and lies.

"I go to her about (the issue) and she laughed in my face and it just escalated. I did beat her up. "It wasn't my first intention in my mind but when she laughed in my face it showed blatant disrespect," said Smith, who caused the woman two minor lacerations.

The unemployed mother was assisted in court by duty counsel Leo Mills who urged Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to throw her a "lifeline".

The Magistrate considered that Smith had "changed her mindset" since the incident and the difficulties she would face trying to find employment with a criminal conviction and handed her a conditional discharge.