AN ALLOA woman repeatedly assaulted an 11-year-old boy which included hitting him with a tree branch, leaving him injured.

Lidia Balan, 37, of Orkney Court, appeared in the dock at Alloa Sheriff Court accompanied by a Romanian translator.

She admitted that on various occasions, between July 1 and August 3, she assaulted a boy aged 11, by repeatedly striking him on the body with her hand and repeatedly striking him on the body with blunt instruments to his injury.

Sheriff Neil Bowie said: "She doesn't seem to understand the seriousness of the offending from the social work report."

Defence solicitor Robert Smith told the court: "She tells me that is not the case."

Sheriff Bowie addressed Balan: "This was not a one-off. There were a number of injuries and it involved using the branch of a tree.

"It is a very unpleasant matter," he added. "It happened on several occasions over a period of time and there were a number of injuries. You also seem to blame the boy."

He imposed a community payback order with nine months of supervision and 100 hours of unpaid work.