A drunken woman who bit her new boyfriend 14 times on the arms and chest following a row over a text message has been convicted of assault.

Rebecca Dyer has been told to “sort herself out” by a judge after Canterbury Crown Court heard details of her drink-fuelled fury during a lovers’ tiff.

Prosecutor James Lofthouse said the 26-year-old, of Greenhouse Lane, Canterbury, had been in “a relationship of very short standing” with the victim.

“In September, she returned to his house in Herne Bay after a night out and it would seem he became suspicious of a text message she was either reading or sending,” he said.

“He asked to see her phone and that developed into an argument during which she assaulted him, primarily by biting him on numerous occasions and also digging her nails into him.”

Judge Nigel Van Der Bijl was shown photographs of the injuries inflicted by Dyer, who works as a carer at a home for people with learning difficulties.

Mr Lofthouse added that the victim had ordered her to leave his flat that evening but she returned the following day when he left some of her items for her to collect.

“Again she delivered another bite,” said Mr Lofthouse. “He then put her items outside the flat and when she went to retrieve them, he went back inside and shut the door behind him.”

The court heard how Dyer also has a previous conviction for another biting incident in November 2013 when she was given a community order.

“You have a very bad temper and it doesn’t help when you drink – it just makes it worse..." - Judge Nigel Van Der Bijl

Kerry Waitt, defending, said: “It forms no part of my mitigation to justify this behaviour and she is clearly guilty of assault.

“But this started because the victim took her phone wanting to read the text and she responded.

“It was a violent reaction, exacerbated by her being intoxicated.

“She accepts she has problems and is addressing her health and alcohol issues. It is not one of those cases where she wants to get back into a relationship with the victim.

“She accepts it is over.”

The judge handed down an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered Dyer to undertake a six-month alcohol treatment course.

He told her: “You have a very bad temper and it doesn’t help when you drink – it just makes it worse.

“You really need to sort yourself out.”