Paige Hoyle, 25, from Rochdale, beat a mother in front of the woman's daughter

She punched Victoria Wynn five times in the face leaving her traumatised

The assault in Rochdale left Miss Wynn's six-year-old child in need of counselling

Hoyle admitted ABH and faced five years in jail but was given community order

Paige Hoyle, 25, beat Victoria Wynn in front of Miss Wynn's six-year-old daughter

A female thug who battered an innocent mother as the victim shielded her six year old child during a street brawl has walked free after she persuaded a judge that her own children needed her at home.

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Paige Hoyle, 25, had been drunkenly fighting with her boyfriend and father when she hurled a bottle which smashed near the feet of Victoria Wynn's daughter as the pair were walking home following a New Year family party.

Miss Wynn huddled her sobbing child and asked for them both to be let past - but Hoyle, herself a mother of three, retorted: 'Who the 'f*** are you?' and promptly subjected her to a vicious beating.

During the assault in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, Miss Wynn was grabbed by the hair and punched in the face up to five times as her terrified young daughter looked on in tears.

Miss Wynn, who is in her 30s, only managed to get away and scoop up the youngster after landing a single punch on Hoyle in self defence. She later treated for nerve damage and swelling to her face.

In a statement the victim said: 'My daughter is deeply affected and is undergoing trauma counselling after what happened.

'She has suffered panic attacks at school since the incident. I myself am not confident enough to go to the shops now on my own and I am too scared to leave the house.

'There has been a loss of confidence and I've suffered a lot of pain and have been taking painkillers. This incident had affected us financially too. I have since left work and am in receipt of statutory sick pay.'

Victim Victoria Wynn said her daughter needed counselling and she herself was off work on sick pay following the beating from Hoyle, pictured

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At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Hoyle from Newhey, Rochdale, faced up to five years jail after she admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm but argued her own children aged six, four and nine months 'depended on her' and claimed it was 'not in the public interest' to send her to prison.

She was sentenced to a 12 month community order and was ordered to pay £300 compensation to Miss Wynn. Hoyle's father Graham, 54, was arrested over the assault upon Miss Wynn but was cleared of wrongdoing at an earlier hearing after claiming he had acted in 'self-defence.'

The incident occurred at 1.15am on January 1 last year after the victim encountered Hoyle in the street as she was arguing with her father and her partner.

Prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said: 'Miss Wynn had been out with her family celebrating the New Year with her young child, boyfriend and boyfriends family when they came across an incident involving this defendant, the defendant's boyfriend and her father.

'It seemed to be an argument between Paige Hoyle and her boyfriend when a bottle was thrown by Miss Hoyle towards her boyfriend. It didn't hit anything and it caused distress to the young child of Miss Wynn.

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'There was then an altercation between Miss Hoyle's boyfriend and Miss Wynn's boyfriend. As Miss Wynn was trying to get past to get her child home, Miss Hoyle grabbed her by the hair and the women fell to the floor.

'She said Miss Hoyle had her hair and punched her about three times, but it could have been up to four or five punches before Miss Wynn managed to get her child away. She said she punched Miss Hoyle once in self defence but it was Miss Hoyle's actions which started matters.

Paige Hoyle

Paige Hoyle

In mitigation, Hoyle's defence lawyer Harriet Johnson said: 'She does show unusual insight into the impact this will have on the woman and child. She has three children aged six, four and nine months of her own who depend on her.

'However, they will not in anyway get her out of jail. She has made arrangements in respect of them and she knows custody is inevitable. She doesn't seem to rely on the children to keep her out of prison.

'She knows she must be punished for what she has done and she reacted wrongly. But there is a keenness to engage with probation and I would submit it is not the best thing to send her to custody, as it is not in the public interest.

'She is in receipt of benefits. She has suffered financially also.'

Sentencing the judge Mr Recorder Matthew Corbett-Jones said: 'Victoria Wynn had been out celebrating New Years Eve herself. At 1.15 in the early hours she left the party she had been attending because her daughter who was with her should have been staying at the house, but couldn't settle. She was walking with her partner and her brother in law.

'As they made their way on to Heywood Road when she could hear screaming and shouting. She saw you throw a glass bottle aiming towards one of the males and they were swearing.

'She said in seeing this her daughter began screaming and crying - it would have been terrifying for her daughter. She huddled her daughter and her partner went in front of them and asked to be allowed through before they were separated.

'Victoria Wynn grabbed hold of her daughter, aged six or seven, and carried on walking to get out of the way, she was upset herself. But in her evidence she said you grabbed hold of her by her hair and you said 'who the f**k are you'.

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'She didn't say anything, she had been trying to get home, and you punched her to the face a couple of times. She pushed her daughter to the side before she struck you in return. You wouldn't let go of her and in consequence this caused her to fall backwards on the road.

'You were both on the floor with her on top of you. During the trial in relation to further injuries of the complainant, she said she was of the opinion that you hadn't hit her hard enough to cut her skin. She said there was another assault when she was pinned on the floor and punched two or three times, but you had not hit her hard enough to cut her.

'What followed was that she was on the ground but the jury concluded your father was acquitted on the basis of self defence. It is clear from the evidence that the blows from him resulted in the serious injuries she sustained.. She alleged you were holding onto her legs, but for me I will not take that into account.

'However this was a sustained and repeated assault. The offence is aggravated by the timing, this was in the early hours of the morning in public when people were likely to be present due to it being New Year's Eve.

'You had consumed alcohol and there is an ongoing impact. This took place in the presence of a child. You started this incident and had it not been for your actions, this simply would not have happened. She would not have sustained her injuries.

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'It is apparent you were in a state of turmoil because of events in the past, which led to a falling out with your father. You have had subsequent traumatic incidents in your life and you do have responsibility of three young children.'