A MAN who hid in the garden of his ex-girlfriend’s house before stabbing her has been jailed for two years.
Andrew Morrow, 29, smoked cigarettes and drank beer while he lay in wait for his 19-year-old victim, Durham Crown Court heard.
“The other sinister aspect to the case is he armed himself with two knives before going to where he knew she was staying,” said Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting.
“He confronted her when she arrived home and called her a slut before lashing out, knocking her on to a settee.
“After she got up she noticed blood coming from a wound to the stomach.
“Fortunately, the cut was not deep and did not require hospital treatment.”
The court heard Morrow punched his ex-girlfriend’s 16-year-old sister when she intervened.
“The relationship had ended several weeks earlier,” added Mr Soppitt. “In the intervening time Morrow left 15 abusive messages on his ex-girlfriend’s Facebook page.
“He also sent her so many abusive texts and voicemail messages, she stopped checking the two inboxes.”
Morrow, of 29, of Second Street, Blackhall Colliery, admitted unlawful wounding, common assault and two charges of possessing an offensive weapon, all on December 18 last year.
He has two previous convictions for unlawful wounding.
Lewis Kerr, defending, said in mitigation: “He had trouble dealing with the breakdown of the relationship and stupidly took to drink.
“This was a nasty assault, but he stopped as soon as the younger sister intervened.”
Judge Esmond Faulks jailed Morrow for two years.
The judge told him: “Fortunately for you, the stab injury was not serious, apparently because the victim was wearing heavy clothing.
“Immediate custody is inevitable, not least because you have two previous convictions for the same offence.”
Morrow was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order banning him from any form of contact with his victim.
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