A 15-year-old boy gripped his mother's neck until she could not breathe, a court heard.

The Colchester youth was angry at her when he came in and found her lying on the sofa, said Amanda Steer, prosecuting.

She had been drinking wine and her son began to make her irate, it was claimed. She poured a drink over him and he spat at her four or five times.

"She was getting scared because of previous violence," said Miss Steer, adding that the boy then took his mother's neck in his hands.

In a police statement, his mother said: "I thought he was going to strangle me."

He then went into the kitchen but when he came out, she threw another drink at him. The fight escalated and he grabbed her neck from behind.

"He squeezed so tight, she began to choke," the prosecution added. She managed to escape, running to a friend's house nearby. Her neck was badly bruised and scratched.

Miss Steer said: "He didn't accept any responsibility for the events."

The boy, representing himself, said his mother had been winding him up. Magistrates made a supervision order for six months.

Published Thursday, March 21, 2002