A 16-year-old who threatened and then punched another teenager because of a Facebook message was handed a conditional discharge.

Katisha Smith pleaded guilty in May to assaulting Chelsea Tyrell and punching her three times in the eye during an altercation in Hamilton.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner yesterday warned the CedarBridge Academy student about her behaviour.

And he expressed concern about a behaviour he said was becoming common among teenagers brought before the courts.

"I am seeing more and more school kids in front of this court and it does not seem to faze them at all," he said. "The mere presence of a schoolgirl in court in her school uniform should be embarrassing."

Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney did not detail the message Miss Tyrell posted on the social networking site when Smith appeared in Magistrates' Court last month.

He said that Smith approached Miss Tyrell at Nelly's Walk, Church Street, on February 24 threatening to punch her and slap her.

Smith then proceeded to punch her three times in her right eye.

Police attended the bus station where Smith was arrested on suspicion of assault, at which point she said: "Yeah, I hit her."

Miss Tyrell was taken to hospital for treatment and then released.

Smith, from Southampton, yesterday appeared in court dressed in her school uniform.

"I see you have a history of fighting at school," said Mr. Warner. "You have a bad temper don't you?"

Smith replied: "Not really."

Mr Warner continued: "If you want to get involved in these new electronic ways of communicating, you need to have patience. If you don't like what they say you can't beat them up.

"What is going to happen when you go to work? If your boss tells you something that you don't like you can't fight them or slap them up."

He gave Smith a conditional discharge with two years' probation.

She was also ordered to take steps towards managing her behaviour and anger.