A 60-year-old woman was involved in a tug of war with a woman less than half her age after withdrawing money from a cash machine.

It happened at Pensarn, Abergele, and some notes got ripped in the struggle, magistrates were told at a weekend court at Llandudno.

Diane Williams, prosecuting, said luckily there were members of the public present and police arrived to arrest 27-year-old Amy Louise Samuel.

She started struggling with a PC and threatened to stab him with a pin.

Samuel pleaded guilty to theft of £20 and assaulting an emergency worker and was remanded in custody until Wednesday, when she will be interviewed by a probation officer before appearing in court.

Her solicitor Andrew Scott said she had been living in emergency accommodation at Pensarn but this was no longer available, so no application could be made for bail because she had nowhere to live.

She had reverted to using drugs after being “clean – and comes across as vulnerable,” he added. “There are clearly drug issues and the probation service may be able to provide the court with an alternative to an immediate custodial sentence.”