A 46-YEAR-old woman smashed her daughter’s face into a stone step as the pair fought in their pyjamas in the early hours.

A police officer on his way to break up the fight saw three children of primary school age come out and join in the scrap.

And when the officer stepped in and took hold of the older woman, the children turned on him.

Blackburn magistrates heard the youngsters nipped, punched, kicked and bit the officer during a frenzied attack.

He calmed the situation but when he later said he was going to arrest their mum, the children attacked him again.

Mother Donna Matthews, of Audley Range, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour. She was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Philippa White, prosecuting, said the officer was sitting in his car as part of a team securing a crime scene.

He saw two women, one wearing a white vest and pyjama bottoms and the other a white onesie, spill out of a nearby house fighting. The older women got on top of the other, who was face down, took hold of her hair and started smashing her face into the step.

Mrs White said: “Donna Matthews was the woman on top and the other female was her daughter.”

She said when the officer took hold of Matthews to stop the fight, the three children attacked him.

She added: “He pulled the children off and pushed them into the house. The level of aggression shown and the language used by the children took him completely by surprise. The adults had stopped fighting and were sitting on the floor.”

Matthews had a black eye and a cut to her nose and was heavily intoxicated. She refused to say what the fight with her daughter was about.

Mrs White said: “The officer told her she was under arrest and the children set about him again."

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said the daughter, Jamie Humphries, had turned up late at night and the two women had been drinking together. They started to argue and things spiralled out of control.

He said: “Her daughter went for her and she suffered severe injuries to her eyes and nose where.

“The fight spilled out on to the streets. Up until that point, my client could have argued self-defence but when she took hold of her daughter’s head and tried to smash it against the step, she went too far.”

Mr Taylor said Miss Humphries did not have any significant injuries and accepted she was equally to blame for the behaviour.

He said: “The children were obviously very concerned for their mother.”