AN 18 year old 'unused to drinking' left her parents house late on Christmas Day night and lashed out at parked cars, causing hundreds of pounds of damage, heard Skipton magistrates.

Amy Baxter, dressed in pyjamas and a pair of trainers, was on her way to her boyfriend's house a short distance away when she was seen kicking cars in Otley Street, Skipton, the court heard last Friday.

A neighbour heard shouting and screaming just before midnight, looked out of her window and saw Baxter kicking cars, said prosecutor, Melanie Ibbotson.

The woman filmed Baxter on her phone before going outside and helping her to her boyfriend's house, and then called the police, said Miss Ibbotson.

Baxter, who admitted three counts of criminal damage, had wrongly believed she had been left out of a conversation on social media by her friends, and had got distressed the court was told.

In mitigation, John Mewies said Baxter, who was arrested and spent most of Boxing Day in custody, had been with her family all day and had drunk more than usual.

She had recently left school and was 'fairly naive' to the effects of alcohol, said Mr Mewies.

After drinking more than she was used, she had gone outside into the fresh air to walk the short distance to her boyfriend's house.

"She became distressed thinking that her friends were keeping her out of the loop, but it turned out to be erroneous, " said Mr Mewies.

He said Baxter, of previous good character, bore no animosity to the owners of the cars and expressed her regret and remorse to them.

Baxter, of Otley Road, was given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay compensation to one car owner of £432 and of £453 to the owner of a second car. No compensation was ordered to the owner of the third car, as no claim had been received. She will also have to pay costs of £40 and a surcharge of £30.