Woman who stabbed partner with 8in blade after row over who she had been texting is jailed

Donna Bewick and her partner had been out for a few drinks on March 1 but things turned sour during the night out and the trouble continued later in theevening.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that a zimmer frame was used first during an initial altercation back at Bewick's home, although it was not confirmed who ithad been used by.

The court heard as the situation escalated, Bewick eventually picked up a knife and stabbed the woman in her shoulder and back.

​Brian Russell, prosecuting, said the couple had recently got back together following a separation, but had originally been together for ten years.

Mr Russell said: "They went out for a couple of drinks together at a number of public houses.

"During the evening a dispute arose between them because the defendant had been talking to a male and invited him back to their house.

"In any event, the couple took a taxi back to the defendant's house and arrived there at about 9:30 in the evening."

Mr Russell said the argument escalated as Bewick began texting somebody after they got home.

He added: "The complainant got the wrong end of the stick, lost her temper and grabbed the phone off the defendant and texted '**** you' to the person whoshe was communicating with.

"This in turn caused the defendant to lose her temper."

The court heard that Bewick then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her partner to her shoulder and back.

The victim also suffered cuts to her fingers and hands during a scuffle which followed.

Mr Russell said that the victim then ran to a neighbour's house for help and the police were called.

Bewick told officers that she had been injured herself but a subsequent check revealed she has no injuries and she was arrested soon after.

The 53-year-old, of Ford Hall Drive, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The victim was rushed to the RVI where she spent six days before being discharged.

Her injuries included a stab wound to the left side of her chest which resulted in a punctured lung, and two stab wounds to the left deltoid muscle.

Mr Russell added, via the victim's impact statement, that she had suffered with her mental health since the stabbing, and has lost feeling in her some of herfingers from nerve damage.

However, she went on to say: "Even after all of this I don't hate Donna. Ten years is a lot of time together is difficult to forget.

"I feel like she needs help for her drinking and her anger issues."

Vic Laffey, mitigating, told the court that his client was an electric wheelchair user, which wouldn't be accessible in custody.

Mr Laffey said: "She (Donna) has been waiting for this day to come. She's aware of the inevitable outcome.

"Things were going fairly swimmingly, they had been out and had few drinks.

"During the course of being separated, the complainant had made other friends and Ms Bewick had also, and she was texting one of them.

"For some reason the complainant took exception to that and sent a fairly abusive message to who Ms Bewick was texting.

"At this point Ms Bewick asks her to go and she refused to go. Then things effectively unravel quite dramatically after that.

"There is an altercation with the zimmer frame. But then the situation gets to the point where we have Ms Bewick pleading guilty to a very seriousoffence."

Ms Recorder Smith sentenced Bewick to three years and four months behind bars.