A mother is furious after a judge ordered her 13-year-old daughter to cut off her ponytail in lieu of a lesser sentence after she attacked a toddler with scissors and hacked off chunks of her hair.

Kaytlen Lopan and an 11-year-old friend launched their assault on the three-year-old at a McDonald's restaurant in Price, Utah, buying a pair of scissors from a nearby dollar shop and chopping off her long curly locks. Kaytlen was ordered to serve 30 days in detention, pay damages to the victims, and serve 276 hours of community service for her part in the attack.

But her mother, Valerie Bruno, accepted the judge's offer to reduce the sentence if she performed a similar hack job with her daughter's hair. District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen said that he would lower the number of hours by 150 in exchange for the amateur haircut.

Mr. Johansen gave Ms. Bruno a pair of scissors and consulted the victim's mother, Mindy Moss, about what length the girl's hair should be, eventually ordering Ms. Bruno to cut it level with the hairband that was tying it up.

Judge Johansen sentenced the other little girl to have her hair cut, as well. However, she was allowed to get it cut at a local salon and was not removed from parental custody.