A WIDOW who threw ink at Scottish crime author Val McDermid after claiming she had ridiculed her murdered husband in print has been ordered not to go near her.

Sandra Botham, 64, has been given a restraining order after she threw the substance at McDermid during a book signings.

The writer had been asked to autograph a copy of her non-fiction A Suitable Job for a Woman by Botham, who called her "the female equivalent of Jimmy Savile" at Sunderland University last year.

Botham, who disguised herself in a blonde wig and a hat to carry out the assault, has nursed a grievance at the book's apparent depiction of late husband George, who was shot dead on his doorstep, in the 1995 book.

She claimed Fife-born McDermid had got her facts wrong and caused tremendous upset to her family and her anger spilled over.

Botham, who was found guilty of common assault, bitterly criticised her treatment after she was brought before Sunderland Magistrates Court for sentencing.

After receiving the 12-month community order with super­vision and being ordered to pay £50 compensation and a £60 victim surcharge, she announced plans to appeal against the "outrageous" sentence.

Botham, of Sunderland, said: "The chapter talks about my husband's murder as if it lacked emotion or pain. It made a laughing stock out of him when he deserves dignity and respect.

"It also refers to me as the Michelin Man, which is just absolutely horrible."

Her daughter Kelly Butler, 42, added: "The author isn't the victim, we are. We have suffered 23 years without our dad and this has brought all the memories back.

"What makes it worse is that the facts in the chapter are all wrong. She put my dad died in 1992 when he died in May 1990.

"It has made it even harder to put everything behind us."

Earlier, Botham had described the proceedings as a "kangaroo court" and was taken down to the cells and sentenced in her absence after she had turned her back on the magistrates.

Her lawyer Christipher Wilson added: "When she was presented with the book, which includes a whole chapter about her, she felt upset and confused.

"She made a rash decision and was only trying to protect her family against allegations which were untrue.

"The greatest concern to her was the part about her late husband, who was shot to death."

He said she wanted to protect her children from the details of the murder that had been brought back by the book.

Mr Wilson added: "It isn't a pleasant chapter - it's historic and many things should be left in the past. The whole thing has played heavily on her mind."

Sentencing, chairman of the bench Craig Tuthill said: "We recognise there is some deep-seated emotional vendetta.

"She may feel aggrieved but obviously her actions are not going to resolve any dispute.

"What we are trying to do is rehabilitate and prevent further offences."

McDermid, who lives in Northumberland, is currently appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival and was not at court for the sentencing.

She had told magistrates at an earlier hearing she had been promoting her book, Vanishing Point. She added that Botham then made her way to the front with a dog-eared copy of A Suitable Job for A Woman, which is about private detectives. Ms McDermid said she had never experienced anything like it, adding: "I have been told she took offence to a chapter in the book."

The author was unavailable for comment yesterday.