A THURROCK woman accused of a frenzied hammer attack has told of missing minutes of memory after she entered her neighbour's house.

Giving evidence at Basildon Crown Court, Debbie White told how she drank a bottle of wine before going to the Cross Keys pub in Riverview, Chadwell St Mary.

"I felt lonely. It was where my partner (Alan Lloyd) had died in my arms only three months before," said White who went on to say how she then met neighbour Sarah Clark, whose daughter, Victoria Richards, she is alleged to have attacked.

"After a while I left but when I went outside I saw Sarah Clarke. She looked at me and then drew a single finger across her throat and mouthed Your kids'."

White told the court that she returned home, drank more wine then left her house once more to get more wine.

She said: "I saw that the Clarkes' light was on. I walked to the front door and kicked and punched it until it opened. I walked into the living room and saw Victoria Richards sitting on a chair. I recall shouting Where is she?' The next thing I remember, I'm back in my house, phoning the police".

White's defence counsel, Matthew Morgan QC asked her if she recalled carrying a hammer. White said: "No. Why would I have a hammer to go to the off licence?"

White was pressed again on what happened when she confronted Miss Richards and said: "I'm sorry but I just can't remember what happened. Maybe I hit her, I just don't know."

White, 36, of Crouch Road, denies aggravated burglary, causing actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon.

The case continues.