Mother-of-three, 52, filmed flooring another woman says she was acting in self-defence

A mother who was filmed flooring another woman during a vicious road rage fight has said she was acting in self-defence.

Shocking video of Deborah Hawkins, 52, brawling with another driver on the A5123 in Northampton on Tuesday went viral after it was posted on social media.

The dramatic footage shows Ms Hawkins bring the other driver to the ground on the carriageway as a crying child looks on, begging them to stop.

But today Ms Hawkins, a full time carer for her son, has claimed she was only defending herself.

Shocking video of Deborah Hawkins (pictured), 52, brawling with another driver on the A5123 in Northampton on Tuesday went viral after it was posted on social media

Ms Hawkins, from Northampton, said she was returning from a beauty clinic with her young son in the car at around 3pm when she stopped at some traffic lights on St Peter’s Way in Northampton.

The mother-of-three said: ‘I was in the middle lane to go straight. I was not even aware at the time of the driver [who was] in the right-hand lane, as if they were going to turn.

‘The lights went green and I went straight over and all of sudden from behind the Audi was pulling up to my car. 

Ms Hawkins, who also has two grown-up children, said she stopped her blue Jaguar X-type at the next set of traffic lights.

She said: ‘By the time I had turned round to say “what’s going on” she had braked her vehicle, run up to mine and was about to place her hand on the door.

The Audi driver, brunette Niketa Reeves, declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline

Violent brawl: Two mothers, pictured above, were recorded slapping and choking one another after a road rage row escalated in Northampton on Tuesday afternoon  

‘I had my son in the car. I didn’t know whether she was a mad woman.’

The Audi driver, brunette Niketa Reeves, declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline. 

Ms Reeves, 28, from Northampton told MailOnline: ‘I’m not going to say anything. I don’t care what she [driver Deborah Hawkins] has said.

‘Now jog on!’

Ms Hawkins disputed reports in the media that she had ‘body slammed’ the woman.

She said: ‘I grabbed her and I just put her to the ground. I’m a lot bigger than her and I overpowered her basically.

‘I said to her, “Just get back in your car”, and she refused.’

She added: ‘She was attempting to grab me and it was self-defence as far as I see it.’

As the women can be seen fighting in the video, Ms Hawkins’ son gets out of the car, and seems to beg his mother to stop. 

Ms Reeves, 28, from Northampton told MailOnline: ‘I’m not going to say anything. I don’t care what she [driver Deborah Hawkins] has said. Now jog on!’

Enemy’s choke-hold: The women hold each others’ throats in vice-like grip at the row escalated 

Shooting the messenger: The blonde-haired woman appears to turn on a man who tried to break up the fracas 

She said: ‘I attempted to get back to my vehicle. He was screaming ‘Stop, stop’.

‘The way it has been perceived is I’m aggressive.’

She added: ‘She had aggressively pursued me. That’s not the way it came across on video and it’s not the way it was reported.’  

The mother-of-three said she had never experienced anything like it before.

She said: ‘I don’t want to be infamous in my hometown.

‘I can’t even go to the shop and buy a newspaper because I think they’re going to recognise me straight away.’

Ms Hawkins said she was contacted by police the next day, who said the incident had not been reported by anyone. 

The brunette, wearing a dress, was filmed being body-slammed to the ground by the blonde driver of a blue Jaguar

The road rage scenes were described as ’embarrassing’ by one witness who said he was appalled. 

Another said the incident was ‘shocking’. A man in the background of the footage can be heard shouting: ‘Get back in your car!’ in a bid to quell the dispute.

Speaking to MailOnline, the man said: ‘We were over the road when we could suddenly hear screaming and shouting. We went out to see what was going on and the two of them were fighting. The brunette woman was accusing the blonde one of cutting her up.

‘The blonde one apparently slammed on her breaks and got out of the car, raising her voice. She pinned her up against the car and the next thing you know they were fighting. The blonde woman strangled her down to the floor.

‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I was a bit shocked to be quite honest.’

‘One of the women’s children was crying saying, “please stop it mum”.

‘People tried to intervene to get them to stop. A man nearby said he would sort it out.’ 

Ms Hawkins added: ‘If there was CCTV footage on the roundabout where it started they [the police] will see clearly I was being pursued quite aggressively at that point.’

She added: ‘I got out of the vehicle and before she had a chance to do anything I just put my hand up to stop her. She raised her fist and I just hit her.

‘At the end of the day, she was at my vehicle. I didn’t get out and go to her vehicle until after that point.’

Ms Hawkins (pictured) said she had got out of hospital just two days before the incident after having her appendix removed

Ms Hawkins said she had got out of hospital just two days before the incident after having her appendix removed.

She added: ‘Once I had hit her and she was on the ground I had attempted to get back in my car.

‘I’m not sure whether I tripped over my flip-flop or if she put her foot out but somehow I ended up falling backwards.

‘At that point, he [my son] got out of the car and was screaming, “Stop, stop”.

‘They made it seem like I’m the bad person and that he was telling me to stop hitting the other woman but in actual fact he was terrified that my stitches were going to split open.

‘It’s been perceived like he’s screaming “stop it Mummy” like I’m the aggressor and that’s not how it was.

‘They’re making out that I’m a bad parent because I’m fighting in front of my child but in actual fact it was my protective motherly instincts that kicked in. I didn’t know what she was capable of.’