OXFORD STUDENT STABBER AVOIDS JAIL TIME

LONDON An Oxford University student who stabbed her boyfriend with a bread knife will be able to avoid prison after receiving a suspended sentence Monday.

Lavinia Woodward was given a 10-month suspended sentence. The judge had said in May that he might not impose prison time, which prompted some British newspapers to complain she was getting special treatment because of her connection to the elite university.

Oxford Crown Court Judge Ian Pringle told Woodward there were many “mitigating” factors. “Principally, at the age of 24 you have no previous convictions of any nature whatsoever,” he said. “Secondly, I find that you were genuinely remorseful following this event.” He also said experts had concluded she suffered from a personality disorder, a severe eating disorder and dependence on alcohol and drugs.

Woodward stabbed her boyfriend in the leg with a bread knife after he called her mother to report she had been drinking on Dec. 30. She pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, which carries a five-year maximum.