A woman has jailed after she violently attacked a stranger with a kettle then asked police ‘Have you seen the size of her?’ when she was arrested.

Eleanor Knapton, 21, appeared shocked that she was being detained over the unprovoked assault near the Assheton Arms pub in Middleton, Greater Manchester, where she lived. She asked police ‘Why are you arresting me? She must be 30 stone.’

As victim Ceri Jones was being taken to hospital to be treated for injuries to her head and face, Knapton told police: ‘She’s f**king smacked me – I can’t be dealing with this. Have you seen the size of her? She started on me for no reason, can you go and speak to her? The woman is just out of her head, she’s p**sed, she must be about 30 stone. I have not done it intentionally, I’m not evil.’

The assault happened when Knapton and boyfriend Simon Lawson, 35, were heard arguing and Lawson started throwing things out of the window at their victim and her friend Liam McMahon on the street below. When police arrived they were covered in blood and Ceri had injuries to her head and neck.

Security footage from the area showed Ceri and Liam walking down the street, arguing with someone and pointing. They then started arguing with someone through an upstairs hotel window moments before Lawson went out into the street and hit Ceri.

Knapton then emerged carrying a kettle which she used to hit Ceri over the head before punching her, knocking her onto the road. She then stood over her and hit her twice and kicked her in the head.

Lawson then attacked Liam, hitting him several times until he fell to the floor, when Knapton and Lawson went back inside.

Knapton, who has 13 previous convictions including robbery, battery and assault, was jailed for a year. McMahon was jailed for 18 months and was given another 18 weeks because he was in breach of a suspended prison sentence for stamping on a man’s head.

Judge Sophie Mckone told them: ‘For reasons we will never know, Ms Knapton, you armed yourself with a kettle and went outside and proceeded to assault Ms jones by hitting her round the head with the kettle and kicking her in the head as she lay on the floor.

‘This was a vicious and nasty, sustained attack. There may have been a degree of provocation, one doesn’t know, but that doesn’t justify what you then proceeded to do. Thankfully their injuries, while quite serious, could have been a lot worse.’

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