A young mother who assaulted her cousin with a beer can and was also involved in a raid on a jewellers has been spared a jail sentence.

Bethany Ivell was a passenger in a getaway car when her then-boyfriend Jack Hennessy and three others attempted to rob Cuttings Jewellers in Queen Street, Ramsgate, in December 2013, but fled empty-handed.

Then in July 2014 while drunk the 22-year-old, of Pollyfield Close, Snodland, launched a “savage” attack on her cousin Helena Ivell.

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She denied assault causing actual bodily harm but was convicted by a jury in September last year. She had admitted attempted robbery.

Maidstone Crown Court heard there had been arguments and disagreements between the pair. The “bad blood” included messages on Facebook.

The victim was at home in Snodland when she saw Ivell going past. Helena decided to “extend the olive branch and make peace”, but she was told to “**** off”.

After an argument Ivell attacked her. Helena threw the cup she was holding in Ivell’s direction.

VIDEO: CCTV footage of jewellery shop raid

Ivell retaliated by hitting the victim with a Stella beer can near her left eye.

She struck other blows to her head and face. The victim was left with a haemorrhage to her eye and other cuts to her face.

Keith Middleton, defending, said at the sentencing hearing last week that the mother-of-two, who has previous convictions for assaulting police officers, had stayed out of trouble since the assault.

She had been on a tagged curfew for almost six months.

Ivell was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years - eight months for the assault and eight months consecutive for the attempted robbery.

A supervision order including anger management was also imposed, as well as a further curfew from 10pm to 6am for three months.

Recorder Cairns Nelson QC said Ivell had used the beer can as a weapon on the victim’s head in a sustained attack, causing a permanent scar above her eye.

“She lied when giving evidence and showed no remorse,” he added.

Ivell was the fifth and final member of the group who carried out the bungled raid on the Ramsgate jewellers, in which staff and customers were threatened with a machete and told to get down on the floor.

When one of the men tried to force a member of staff to open a window display, she managed to break free and call for her colleagues to activate a security device which filled the shop with dense fog.

The three men fled the shop empty-handed to a waiting red Peugeot car, but they were followed by members of the public who saw the car and reported it to Kent Police.

Officers stopped the car later that day just off the M2 at Maidstone.

The others involved included Hennessy, 28, of Pollyfield Close, Snodland, who was sentenced in 2014 for his part in this incident and seven other robberies. He received eight years' imprisonment.

Keith Hodgson, 32, of Holborough Road, Snodland, was sentenced to six years and eight months for this offence and other robberies.

Christopher Storey, 32, of Nixon Avenue, Ramsgate, was jailed for two years last August. He was also sentenced for a further 18 months, to run concurrently, for possession of a blade.

Stacey Cooper, 31, of Saltings Road, Snodland, was also sentenced last year to an eight month custodial sentence, suspended for a year, after pleading guilty to attempted robbery. She had been driving the getaway car.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Helen King of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said of Ivell's sentence: "The result spells the end of a long investigation, with a lot of specialised in-depth work by officers to bring these offenders to court.

"I would like to commend the courageous and prompt actions of the staff in the jewellers and the members of the public who chased the offenders to the awaiting getaway car.

"Their determination and community-spirited approach has played a big role in seeing justice done.

"It's a lesson for anyone considering breaking that law – people care about their communities and criminal activity will never be tolerated."