A WOMAN who stabbed her former partner to the backside came close to severing his major femoral artery.
And Marie Carter was told by a judge at Warwick Crown Court that if she had done so, she could have been facing a charge of manslaughter.
Carter, 44, of Campbell Street, Rugby, had pleaded guilty to two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm following two attacks on her ex-partner.
She was sentenced to 16 months in prison suspended for 18 months, with a condition of residence for the next 12 weeks at the Willowdene Farm rehabilitation centre in Shropshire.
Rachel Pennington, prosecuting, said that on New Year’s Eve 2018 Carter and her then partner argued about him texting another woman, during which she stabbed him with a small kitchen knife, causing a small puncture wound.
She tried to stab him a second time but he disarmed her – but did not go to the police at that time.
Their relationship finally ended in July last year, and he had started removing his belongings from Carter’s home.
He turned up on August 5 to get some clothes, and found Carter intoxicated.
When he went to get his belongings, she followed him and began punching him to the face, so he pushed her away.
She armed herself with a large kitchen knife, but he did not expect anything more than a threat and went to the door.
“He then felt a sharp pain to the back of his leg. He did not at first realise he had been stabbed, but felt his leg was wet, and then felt blood,” said Miss Pennington.
The man texted his new girlfriend, saying: “My ex just stabbed me.”
He later found he had puncture wounds to his bottom and the top of his right leg, which were dressed, and the police were called – and he was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Miss Pennington added that Carter had previous convictions, but none for violence – although there was one for possessing a weapon in 1998.
Referring to a pre-sentence report, Ian Windridge, defending, said: “Miss Carter was fairly open with the probation service that alcohol was something that needed to be tackled and has been an overwhelming problem in her life.
“She had undertaken a week’s detox at the Southfield Project in Manchester, and an alcohol test has been taken at court today, and she has no alcohol in her system, so Willowdene Farm are willing to take her.
“She would do work there to deal with her alcohol issues.”
And in relation to the offences, he added: “She can only say she was drunk at the time, and she had her suspicions about what he may have been doing, and she simply lost control on those occasions.”
Sentencing Carter, Judge Peter Cooke told her: “When you stabbed (the victim) in the leg one of the paramedics observed how close it came to the femoral artery.
“You could, without intending to do so, have killed him, and you would have been facing at least a manslaughter charge – and he would have been on a slab in a mortuary.
“The court cannot tolerate knife crime, and it cannot tolerate two stabbings, even by a woman with no previous convictions for violence.
“This must be met by custody but, rather than it being immediate, the better way forward is to take the bull by the horns and deal once and for all with your long-term alcohol problem.”
As well as ordering Carter to stay at Willowdene Farm, Judge Cooke ordered her to take part in a rehabilitation activity and imposed a restraining order banning her from contacting the victim for ten years.
