A MOTHER-of-three accused of threatening to "wallop" a Worcester schoolgirl has been acquitted.

Karen Mapp denied causing alarm, harassment and distress following a confrontation outside the girl's school.

A 16-year-old from Dines Green, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleged that Mapp had hurled abuse at her in the Swanpool Walk car park, calling her "bitch", "slag" and "s***-stirrer" on Monday, January 10.

"She said 'if you want a wallop, I'll wallop you'," the girl told Worcester Magistrates' Court.

She added that Mapp had threatened to "slap her over the fence" and had flailed her arms in the air in a threatening manner.

The girl, who said she had been left "upset" by the incident, then went to the school and lodged a complaint.

Mapp, who had known the girl since she was a baby, was later interviewed by the police.

But Joe Kieran, defending, said 39-year-old Mapp had no previous convictions.

He claimed his client had been angered by the girl's bullying of Mapp's daughter, Holly, then 12, and was on her way to the school to speak with the headteacher about this.

"She told you she didn't want Holly to end up hanging from a banister because of your bullying tactics," Mr Kieran told the girl in cross-examination.

Mr Kieran said Mapp, of Michael Crescent, Malvern, repeated her claims about the girl bullying her daughter during the police interview.

Mapp admitted calling the teenager a "s***-stirrer" but denied using other swearwords or threats.

"I did make slicing movements with my hands because I often talk with my hands to emphasise what I'm saying," she said.

The magistrates acquitted her.