Dundee Sheriff Court heard in July that Amanda McCabe, 47, tailed her victim, Claire Smith, for miles before blocking her exit, opening her door and punching her in the face. The victim did not require medical attention, but was left with a red mark on her face.

McCabe claimed in court she had not been following her victim but had simply been on her way to a wool shop that was near the location of the assault.

Hearing this, Sheriff Rafferty challenged Ms McCabe to knit for her freedom.

He told her that upon her return to court on December 14 she would have “multiple knitted items” she could sell to a charity shop to raise money for good causes.

Accepting the challenge, Ms McCabe claimed to be able to knit a full jumper in three days at a cost of £6 to £7.

John Adams, depute fiscal, told the court Ms Smith had been unimpressed with Ms McCabe’s driving abilities and had let her know as much.

He added: “Unfortunately this led to the accused following Ms Smith for around five to ten minutes, from the Kingsway to Cardean Street.”

She then trapped Ms Smith, opened her door and attacked her. Luckily, Ms Smith did not require medical attention but was left with a red mark on her face.

Ms McCabe appeared in court yesterday with a large gift bag of knitted items. Sheriff John Rafferty viewed them in his chambers before delivering his sentence.

Solicitor advocate Jim Laverty, defending, said: “Your lordship chose a unique approach to this from the sewing box. As a result she was the target of abuse on social media, where everyone can have an opinion and express it in writing. She was made out to be some kind of Madame Defarge character from A Tale of Two Cities.”

Admonishing McCabe, Sheriff Rafferty said: “I gave you an opportunity to make reparation to society and you did so at no cost to the public purse.”