A TEENAGE girl's unprovoked early hours attack on a man at Gloucester bus station has earned her four weeks in jail.

Paige Brown-Stanney, 19, from Painswick Road in Gloucester, admitted in court that she'd punched her victim after he had failed to give her a cigarette.

Brown-Stanney, who appeared before magistrates in Stroud via video link from HMP Eastwood Park, was with a co-defendent when the pair committed the assault on October 26, said prosecutor Kathryn Jones.

The co-defendant received a four weeks suspended sentence.

She said: "At 2am the defendant was walking from Gloucester after a party heading towards the taxi rank at the bus station.

"The defendant and the co-defendant approached and asked for a cigarette, but he didn't smoke and began walking away," Miss Jones said.

"Both girls started to shout abuse at him."

She said the girls swore and drew attention to the victim's ginger hair before "the defendant made an unprovoked punch with a closed fist onto the victim's left cheek which pushed him off balance."

Members of the public witnessed the incident and the girls, who were also seen on CCTV, were arrested.

Unprovoked

"It was an unprovoked attack for no good reason other than he didn't have a cigarette," added Miss Jones.

Brown-Stanney, whose actions had invoked an existing suspended sentence, was however "at a low ebb" at the time, her lawyer Matthew Griffiths said.

"She was in a refuge but had been asked to leave because she was unable to pay the rent. She was herself the victim of domestic violence," Mr Griffiths told the hearing.

"In August she was the subject of a very serious offence herself. These matters are currently with the Crown Prosecution Service, awaiting a charge of the male involved."

Mr Griffiths said: "It is fair to say the male population are not her favourites."

Brown-Stanney was sentenced to four weeks in custody, to be served concurrently with her existing imprisonment.

She was also ordered to pay £50 compensation to the victim and warned about her future conduct after release.

"It was a prolonged attack and must have been frightening – there were other people there who would have been scared," said the chairwoman of the bench.