Man who ‘significantly scarred’ his ex-partner with kitchen knife is jailed

A MAN who slashed his partner with a kitchen knife in an “eruption” of violence was handed a six-year sentence yesterday.

Sending Andrew Robert Copeland (36) to jail, Judge David McFarland said the incident left the woman with a “significant scar” to her face.

Copeland, from Kilbroney House in Belfast, was informed he will spend three years in jail followed by three on licence after he admitted wounding the woman with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm on July 2, 2017.

He also admitted common assault, and of possessing an offensive weapon.

Belfast Crown Court heard that the incident occurred after the couple had been drinking.

She consumed around 12 beers whilst Copeland drank Buckfast, and after returning to his home with a Chinese takeaway, Copeland lifted a plate and threw it across the kitchen.

Prosecutor David McNeill said that “without warning” Copeland then punched his partner several times in the face, then lifted a knife from the draining board, which he used to slash her face.

At this point, Copeland picked up a second knife and began to self-harm, then tried to stem her bleeding with a cushion and tea towel. While he went to bed, his injured partner went to the nearby home of a relative of Copeland’s, who called the police. Copeland was arrested and the injured woman was taken to hospital where she received 18 stitches to a slash wound that ran from her ear to left eyebrow.

Mr McNeill said she was left with a 12cm visible scar, and is afraid to leave her local area for fear of running into her now-former partner Copeland, and she feels unsafe in her own home.

Defence barrister Luke Curran said his client had experienced “adversity” in his childhood which resulted in “personal difficulties” and which then led to substance misuse.

Passing sentence, Judge McFarland said the scar left on the woman’s face is a “constant reminder” of what happened to her during an “eruption” of violence.

The judge also issued a fiveyear restraining order.