Drunk woman stabbed female victim in back
A DRUNK woman turned nasty and attacked an acquaintance, before stabbing her in the back.
Samantha Bodycote called at a friend’s house where the victim was also present and they began drinking amicably together.
However, an argument broke out when the defendant put the wrong coat on, Leicester Crown Court was told.
It escalated to 39-year-old Bodycote grabbing a “frightening-looking” knife and using it to inflict an injury needing stitches.
Bodycote, of The Grove, Hinckley, admitted unlawful wounding, on April 17.
Gregor Purcell, prosecuting, said the defendant, who has 44 offences on her record, including several assaults, claimed she acted in selfdefence.
He said: “In her interview she couldn’t provide an account as to how the complainant came to be stabbed on her back.”
Judge Philip Head said: “In April this year you were already the subject of a 12-month community order for violence towards an emergency worker.
“You have a medical history which requires you to be medicated and, unfortunately, you drank as well. Alcohol triggers violence in you – which you are well aware of.”
The judge said there was a struggle on the floor, where Bodycote bit the victim’s hand before being pulled off by another person.
“She got up to leave. You snatched a knife, a frightening-looking weapon with potential to do terrible harm. In your drunken temper, you stabbed her on the back, under her arm,” the judge said.
At hospital, the victim needed six stitches to repair her back injury and a cut on the top of her head was glued.
Judge Head said: “This was a sustained attack and the injuries she suffered were, mercifully, less serious than they could have been.”
Gary Short, mitigating, said the defendant had a history of mental health difficulties.
The violence happened at the home of a friend who was looking after the defendant’s dog, as she was not allowed to keep it at her own flat.
Mr Short said: “The victim was also at the address, they know each other and there’s no history (of animosity) between them. They consumed a lot of alcohol.
“The defendant accepts that in the kitchen her mood swung further and in complete frustration and annoyance she stabbed her.”
He said the defendant, who was also cut on her neck and face during the incident, claimed the falling out happened because she inadvertently put on the wrong coat.
Mr Short added: “You wouldn’t normally fall out over that kind of thing, the argument came out of nowhere.”
He said the defendant was concerned about not being at liberty to help care for her mother who was in poor health.
Bodycote was jailed years. for two