A WOMAN has been banned from drinking and ordered to wear a “sobriety” ankle tag after she broke coronavirus regulations and smashed glass doors with a hammer when drunk.

Rachel Wood, 42, of Treharne Road, Barry, was made subject of the electronically tagged device to make sure she abstains from alcohol.

The tag will alert police if she has been drinking as it monitors an offender’s sweat every 30 minutes to tell if they have consumed any alcohol.

Alcohol abstinence orders have only recently been introduced in Wales to target booze-fuelled criminals.

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Earlier this month, Robert George Burbidge, 71, of College Road, was made subject to one of the orders at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court after he admitted an alcohol-fuelled attack on a nurse.

Abigail Jackson, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court how Wood was in breach of coronavirus restrictions during the first lockdown in April.

She said: “Police officers on mobile patrol in Barry were called to an incident in Holton Road.

“Christopher James said he was living there with a friend and that his ex-partner, the defendant, had attended to collect a dog they jointly owned.

“He said that due to her intoxication, he refused to hand over the dog.

“The officers found the defendant in the living room. She was very intoxicated and unable to sit up straight and was slurring her words.”

Miss Jackson told how the officers said to Wood the disagreement between her and Mr James was a civil matter.

Police said the defendant had to return to her own address because of Covid-19 regulations.

The prosecutor added: “They even offered her a lift home in their car but she became verbally aggressive towards the officers.

“They gave her a final chance and threatened to arrest her. She told them, ‘I don’t give a ****. Lock me up.”

Wood was then arrested in July following a drinking session after she smashed the glass door of her own home with a hammer when she lost her keys.

She then caused the same damage at a neighbour’s address shortly after.

Both properties belonged to the United Welsh housing association and left them with a repair bill of £300.

Wood pleaded guilty to breaching coronavirus regulations and two counts of criminal damage.

These offences put her in breach of a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months, for the ill-treatment of a young person which was imposed last November.

Paul Hewitt, mitigating, said: “The defendant was clearly drunk on both occasions and has taken steps to address her alcohol problem.”

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Wood to a 12-month community order and ordered her to complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She was also fined £50 and has to pay a victim surcharge.

The judge told the defendant before she left the dock: “If you slip off the wagon, it will be picked up.”

Alcohol abstinence orders allow judges to slap offenders with drinking bans for up to 120 days.

Anyone found breaching one can face being hauled back to court for another punishment such as a fine, an extension of the order, or they could be sent to jail.

The ankle tags are to be extended to England next year.