A BIRTHDAY celebration ended with a drunken brawl in the back of a minibus, a court was told.

North West Wiltshire Magistrates at Trowbridge heard Anne Whatman, 37, of Redhorn Gardens, Devizes, had been celebrating her daughter's birthday at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster on August 3.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, said she and her husband left the barracks in a minibus with a number of other people in the early hours of the morning and one or two were the worse for wear.

He said rude remarks were made and an argument rumbled on in the minibus. "All sorts of people made remarks and thumped others."

But he said only one formal complaint had been made, against Mrs Whatman. She was charged with common assault and a public order offence.

Both of the charges were later withdrawn and she was charged with a breach of the peace.

"She herself received an injury,'' Mr Meake said.

"It is clear she was not the only one at fault. She was as much sinned against as sinning.''

John Elliott, defending, said Whatman was a charity worker who had only recently returned from Kosovo.

"She was on medication for pre-menstrual tension but hadn't been warned not to mix this with alcohol," he said.

He said Mrs Whatman had needed butterfly stitches on her left eyebrow and her glasses had been broken in the incident. "She is bitterly ashamed about what happened," he said.

Magistrates bound Whatman over to keep the peace in the sum of £100 for a period of six months.