�The headteacher of a school for excluded pupils repeatedly punched a colleague in a drunken rant outside a train station.

Katrina Mann, 48, from Hornchurch, was seen “kissing and embracing” fellow teacher Darren McCarthy, 38, before their late-night clash at Barking station.

Witnesses called the police as the couple shouted and swore at each other on Station Parade at 11.45pm on January 26, Havering Magistrates’ Court heard.

Mann, from Devonshire Road, yelled at officers, screaming: “Why are you f***ing stopping me?” then told McCarthy to “shut the f*** up, you p****, don’t say anything – you’re coming home with me.”

She added that she was “the head of a centre for excluded children and you don’t know what it’s like dealing with their behaviour.”

They were both seen punching each other in the head, prompting a second member of the public to call the police.

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Officers arrived to find McCarthy shouting and aggressive claiming they were only stopping him because he was a “n*****.”

More blows were exchanged between the pair, Mann punching McCarthy three times before they were arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly behaviour.

At the station, Mann said they had been drinking in a pub since 5.30pm and she had been too drunk to remember what had happened next.

He said he was not drunk and had been angry with police, who he felt had been racist and made him miss the last train home.

The pair, who have been suspended from their jobs at Barking and Dagenham Tuition Centre, denied charges of being drunk and disorderly in a public place and using threatening words and behaviour.

But they admitted lesser charges of using disorderly words and behaviour before a planned trial.

They were each given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay �85 court costs.

Donal Lawler, for Mann, said: “Miss Mann has already paid a very high price for this because she is currently suspended from her job.” Andrew Lock, for McCarthy, said the father-of-two was still angry with police about how he had been treated.

A spokesman for Barking and Dagenham Council said: “Ms Mann and Mr McCarthy are both on special leave pending court appearances and disciplinary investigation.”