A FURIOUS Pembroke mum fashioned a cosh out of a sock and a tub of moisturiser after her daughter was ripped off by a drug dealer, magistrates have been told.

Forty-nine-year-old Helen Cappasso, of Main Street, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place when she appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

She committed the offence while on conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.

On the evening of August 9, police received a report that Cappasso, a single parent was walking down Main Street with a knife.

The caller said she was intoxicated and threatening to kill someone, but later rang back to say the defendant had returned home.

“Police attended the address, and the defendant was searched.

In her handbag was a pot of cream, put in a sock as a makeshift cosh,” said prosecutor Mr Peter Lloyd.

“She said she had been out and she wanted to harm a particular person. In interview, she said she’d had a lot to drink and she was furious with a person she thought had ripped her off. She said she realised her conduct had been ridiculous.”

Mr Matthew Greenish, defending, said this was a “very unusual case”.

“My client went out with friends and drank to excess, which she very rarely does. She got home, and her daughter said she’d been ripped off in a cannabis deal. Ms Cappasso tried to teach her daughter a lesson. She was furious her daughter had bought the drugs and furious she had been ripped off. She put the cream in an ankle sock. She never intended to visit anyone. She just walked around the block, then went home. She said everything had been done for effect, and it had been an ‘alcohol-fuelled disaster’.”

Mr Greenish said Cappasso was due to start a job, and intended to study for an Open University degree in Psychology.

Probation Officer Mrs Heidi Norman said Cappasso was bi-polar, but was prescribed medication and “managed her condition well”. Mrs Norman said Cappasso also took painkillers for fibromyalgia and sciatica.

“Occasionally she gets muscle spasms, and very occasionally she’ll use cannabis to help that,” Mrs Norman explained.

Magistrates sentenced Cappasso to 120 hours of unpaid work. They also ordered her to pay costs and a surcharge totalling £145.