The British former actress who wowed cyberspace with her no-holds-barred YouTube assault on her estranged hubby has been hauled before a New York court to answer for her ranting.

Tricia Walsh-Smith, 49, achieved in a few minutes a level of international fame which she could only have dreamt about during her thespian career, during which she shared the small screen with Benny Hill. Here's what she had to say about Broadway executive Philip Smith:

When the vid first hit cyberspace, Mr Smith's lawyers described themselves as "kind of appalled" at the outburst, and divorce specialists reckoned the footage would "come back and haunt" Walsh-Smith since it "probably won't help her in front of a judge".

Well, Philip Smith has evidently decided to put this to the test, and his battling missus appeared yesterday before the beak on a "spousal abuse" rap. His lawyer, David Aronson, described his client as "petrified of publicity of any kind", and insisted Walsh-Smith had said "horrible, horrible" things about him.

Walsh-Smith defended herself with: "We don't live in the Middle East. I don't have to walk three steps behind my husband. I'm entitled to get angry and have an opinion."

She admitted she'd earned around £44,000 from UK and US press and TV interviews since becoming a net celeb, but insisted she had no option. She said: "I didn't know what else to do because I had no money. I'm not just going to slink off into Central Park." ®