Drunk Donna Urquhart, 43, paid the price for her blatant drunkenness when she was locked up for the holiday season after testing Judge William Ashworth's patience in Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday morning.
After ordering the defendant's pretrial detention drunk for more than a month until January 14, the judge was suddenly rounded.
A male supporter of the defendant subjected Judge Ashworth to a sustained torrent of abuse from the public gallery, including blatantly mocking his 'silly wig', a British legal tradition since 1685.
Security intervened in an attempt to quell the gruesome spiraling scenes when Urquhart, who was to be sentenced for a skirmish in the city on April 9 last year, was dismantled while her friend was thrown out of court.
The case had been delayed because Urquhart's defense attorney, Rob Harding, asked for more time to evaluate his client amid concerns about his condition after security reports were forced to take away his vodka.
After the case was called, Mr. Harding requested that the case be sentenced in the afternoon with probation so that he could complete a recall report on the day.
But Judge Ashworth, less than impressed with Urquhart's open indifference to the court, decided to lock up the defendant for more than a month, with her "too intoxicated to be sentenced."
"I'm worried about your intoxication, so you'll be in pretrial detention," he said, prompting the angry man in the public gallery to unleash his rude tirade against the judge.
"You're fucking laughing," he began, before continuing his withering verbal attack, and then added, "You and your silly wig."
With Urquhart and his male entertainer now out of the courtroom, the judge turned to Urquhart's co-defendant, Chloe Rowsell, 22, who was sentenced for scuffle.
Rowsell of St Faiths Road received a 12-month community order with 40 hours of unpaid work and an electronic tag from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. through February 1.
The judge said there was a "significant mitigation" for the former good-natured woman who cares for her mother and child.
Meanwhile, Urquhart will appear again in Portsmouth Crown Court on January 14 to be sentenced again.
