Image copyright SWNS Image caption Louise Dixon, 51, said she would "never behave in this way again"

A woman drunkenly hit an eight-year-old boy in the face with a water bottle on a plane "with some force".

Louise Dixon, 51, of Ogmore-by-Sea, Vale of Glamorgan, was handcuffed for six hours on the Virgin Atlantic flight from Miami to Heathrow on 12 April.

Dixon admitted three counts of assault and one of being drunk on a plane after lashing out at fellow passengers.

She was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, at Isleworth Crown Court .

Dixon boarded the flight after drinking two bottles of beer and half a bottle of brandy and - less than 20 minutes into the flight - began behaving "very strangely", raising her fist to punch a woman sat on the row behind her.

She did the same to another passenger and then lashed out at two others as crew and travellers tried to restrain her.

The boy's mother said she saw the water bottle fly across the aircraft and hit her son on the head "with some force".

'Behaved recklessly'

Mother-of-two Dixon was ordered to attend a 25-day rehabilitation program for alcoholics and complete 200 hours community of service.

She must also pay the three common assault victims compensation of £400 each.

Judge Edward Connell said Dixon had "behaved recklessly and assaulted the people with the misfortune of sitting near you, including an eight-year-old child".

"If you fail to comply with the court orders, you will be brought back in front of me and I will activate the prison sentence," he added.

Zaki Hashmi, defending, described the events on the plane as a "wake-up call".

She told the court in a statement: "I am so sorry for what I have done. I will never behave in this way again."