A WOMAN assaulted her 80-year-old grandmother after a chance meeting as the older woman was making her way to the Mosque.

Blackburn magistrates heard Bushra Iqbal ran at her gran and pushed her hard, knocking her to the floor.

The victim got to her feet and approached Iqbal who again pushed her to the floor.

The court was told the incident came against a background of a family feud.

And Iqbal told the probation officer who prepared a pre-sentence report her grandma had called her a "brothel dancer" and then said she would get the younger woman's uncles to rape her.

Iqbal, 24, of Higher Antley Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to assaulting Naseem Aktar on August 28.

She was made subject to a community order for 12 months with 200 hours unpaid work.

She was ordered to pay £250 compensation to her grandmother, £85 costs and £90 victim surcharge.

Beth Pilling, prosecuting, said Mrs Aktar claimed she heard her granddaughter using "filthy" language and called her a whore.

What happened next was caught on CCTV which was shown to the court.

Iqbal was seen running after her grandma and pushed her violently before walking off. The older woman got to her feet and went after her and was pushed to the ground again.

The victim said she suffered cuts to her hands and legs and her nose was injured. She said she was in a lot of pain.

"The victim was clearly vulnerable because of her age," said Miss Pilling.

Iqbal told the probation service she had received information that her uncles were on their way to detain her brother and she was on the way to the mosque to warn him when she met her grandma.

She said there was an ongoing feud within the family and she had never had a relationship with her grandma.

Amjid Khan, defending, said emotions had been running high due to a family dispute when his client met her grandma by chance as they were both heading to the mosque.

"She was going to warn her brother that some uncles were going to assault him ," said Mr Khan. "Some unpleasant things were said and she reacted. She immediately regretted what she had done."

He said Iqbal worked as a sales advisor for BT Services and a manager from the company had attended court to observe the proceedings.

"She will have to wait and see what action her employers take," said Mr Khan.