A COUPLE in charge of a child could barely stand after drinking a bottle of whisky in the street, a court heard.

Concerned members of the public called the police after spotting Karl Hayden and his partner Deborah Hambrook as they staggered along Shakespeare Road in Eastleigh town centre pushing a child in a buggy.

At one point Hambrook, 36, was seen being sick on the ground and then she fell over, causing the buggy to topple over, Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard.

Officers arrived on the scene but the drunk pair began shouting and swearing and community support officer Rhys McCarthy was pushed in the chest by Hayden while Hambrook, lashed out at a female officer, punching, kicking and pulling her hair so hard a clump came out, the court was told.

Prosecutor Marie Fittall said: “The descriptions are that both were struggling to walk and unable to stand up properly and were sitting on the pavement.”

She told the court how police recovered an empty bottle of whisky in the pushchair and the child smelt and was soaked in urine and was cold because it had no blanket.

Hayden, 38, of Porteous Crescent, Chandler’s Ford, pleaded guilty to being found drunk in a public place, and assaulting a police officer.

Hambrook, unemployed, of the same address, also admitted being drunk in a public place and three counts of assaulting police officers, one of which was a detention officer when she was remanded in custody at a station the court heard.

She has previously been served with a penalty notice in 2012 for being drunk and disorderly and has a previous conviction for battery.

Nick Muir, defending, said Hayden, who is unemployed because he suffers from anxiety, had been out shopping with his partner and the child when he bought a bottle of whisky which they decided to drink.

He said: “They were letting their hair down that afternoon. He got extremely drunk and does not remember the details of the incident himself.”

Magistrates are due to sentence the pair today.