Pimlico woman attacked housing officers

Simon Elliott, prosecuting, said the London and Quadrant (L&Q) housing officers called at Bloom's house at 11.30am on September 5.

Miss Cunningham went up to the flat to deliver a letter, while Mr Stepien waited in the communal hallway.

He said: "Miss Cunningham handed her the forms and said she could not stay as she had a meeting.

"The defendant was ranting at this stage, her voice was raised.

"When Miss Cunningham stated she had to go, she shouted 'no you won't'.

"Miss Cunningham managed to open the door and the defendant physically tried to prevent her from leaving but she was able to manoeuvre round the defendant."

Bloom then grabbed her around the chin and dug her nails into her face.

Mr Stepien went upstairs when he heard the disturbance.

As he tried to hold back Bloom and call the police, she bit his wrist.

Lorna West, defending, said the incident was "out of character".

She added: "Since May, she has had problem after problem with her property.

"She has had flooding, high levels of condensation, constantly builders attending and constantly the work not being correct.

"She suffers from a pulmonary condition.

"From the doctor's point of view, she has been experiencing high levels of stress as a result of this building work.

"She has had a bit of pneumonia which has been made worse by the damp in her property.

"On the day this incident occurred, she was desperate for the officers to come in and see her property.

"She said she was very sorry and that her behaviour was inappropriate."

Sentencing her to a 12-month conditional discharge, district judge Kenneth Grant said: "There's no excuse to behave in the way that you did."

Bloom must also pay £40 compensation to Miss Cunningham, £80 to Mr Stepien, and £85 in prosecution costs.

An L&Q spokeswoman said: "We're committed to working with our residents to ensure all repairs are carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible, which is exactly what we've done in Ms Bloom's case.

"Whilst we appreciate that sometimes residents can find the processes we have to go through frustrating, we cannot and will not tolerate assault on our employees and will take the appropriate action when required to do so."