A woman, who carried out a savage hammer attack on an assistant librarian, has been ordered to remain indefinitely in a secure mental hospital.

Olga Newson had been banned from Sittingbourne Library just minutes before launching the "ugly" attack after breaching time restrictions on the computers.

After issuing "explicit and violent" threats against victim Janice Bestal, 53, Newson - who speaks with a "heavy Russian accent" - produced the weapon from her bag.

When a friend went to help her colleague, the 46-year-old sunk her teeth into Caroline Frater's wrist.

In the havoc which followed, others members of the public fought to get the hammer from her grip, knocking over book cases.

Now a judge at Maidstone Crown Court has issued Hospital and Restriction Orders under the Mental Health Act after a jury decided Newson - who has mental health problems - had carried out the attacks.

In law, those who are unable to stand trial, cannot enter a plea and a jury has to listen to evidence and rule if she "did the act" and then a judge can issue a hospital order.

Newson was not present in court to hear her sentence because of the threats she posed to staff bringing her from the psychiatric unit.

"She poses a serious risk of causing harm both to herself and other members of the public..." - Judge Philip Statman

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Muzaffar Husain said Newson was suffering from a severe mental disorder and was likely to repeat the attack if released.

He said that little is known about her background and when a Russian interpreter was brought in by hospital staff to help, Newson lashed out.

Judge Philip Statman said: "She poses a serious risk of causing harm both to herself and other members of the public."

The incidents at the building in Central Avenue on June 22 last year were caught on CCTV cameras and shown to a jury.

The prosecutor told how two days earlier, Newson had lashed out when two other staff members stopped her using a computer.

Prosecutor Archie Mackay said Newson had struck one librarian and punching the arm and shoulder of another.

"Some of those threats were about what she was going to do in the future, and on June 22 she returned," said Mr Mackay.

"A decision had been made to ban her from the library and Janice Bestal handed her the banning letter.

"She ripped it up, took out from her a bag a hammer and started to strike Ms Bestal on her head with it.

"There was quite a big bit of violence occurring in that library."

Newson, of Oak Road, Murston, Sittingbourne, was accused of wounding Ms Bestal with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, an assault causing actual bodily two offences of assault by beating.

Mr Mackay said Newson suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was not well enough to enter pleas to the charges or attend her trial. She was being treated in a psychiatric unit.

"She ripped [the banning letter] up, took out from her a bag a hammer and started to strike Ms Bestal on her head with it..." - Prosecutor Archie Mackay

Ms Bestal told how she tried to back off as Newson lunged at her with the hammer.

"She started hitting me in the head,” she said. “She hit me twice, maybe more. I was backing away from her and I started to grapple with her and try to hold her hand. It all started to go a bit of a blur.”

Brenda Bingham, 60, a deputy registrar at the KCC run library, said she had told Newson to leave two days earlier because of inappropriate language to a colleague.

She reacted “angrily and abusively”, she said, and seemed to be out of control.

Newson threatened: “You will not exist, I will finish you, I will finish this whole place. The library will be finished.”

She hit a colleague in the face and was ordered to leave.

"At that point she became quite menacing and threatening,” said Ms Bingham. "It was obvious she wasn't just going to go and she started coming towards me."

She backed away but was wedged against a shelving unit, where she was punched.