Mum attacked two women with machete in Sunderland

A mum who attacked two women with a machete has been detained in hospital indefinitely.

Gemma Scott-Ingham had told a child to "get away from my house" while carrying the weapon on the day of the attacks in South Hylton, Sunderland, in July 2021.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when a mum and her adult daughter went to speak to Scott-Ingham about her behaviour, she picked up the machete again and attacked.

Prosecutor Liam O'Brien told the court: "At no stage did they threaten the defendant nor did they resort to insults. In short, they did nothing to provoke what happened, let alone justify it.

"The defendant simply lost control and without a word of warning she picked up the machete."

Mr O'Brien said the mum was the first to be lunged at and she suffered a cut between her thumb and forefinger that was done with such force it went deep into the palm of her hand.

Scott-Ingham then turned on the second victim, who she tried to hit "at least three times".

Mr O'Brien said: "This included an attempt to strike her on the back of the head. She felt the impact of the blow and a small amount of her hair extension was cut and damaged.

"She didn't sustain any wound to the head but she did receive some to the back of her hand. She believes she avoided more serious injury due to the defendant catching the blade on a metal railing as she swung it towards her."

The court heard the mum and daughter were taken to hospital for treatment to their wounds, which have affected many aspects of their lives.

Scott-Ingham's home was searched and weapons including a sword, crossbow, several axes and multiple hunting knives were found, as well as a riot helmet and arm, leg and body armour plus a full size riot shield.

Mr O'Brien said: "She was concerned about society breaking down due to the pandemic or war and essentially she wanted to prepare herself."

Scott-Ingham, 31, then of Meadow Grove, Sunderland, who has no previous convictions for violence, was examined by specialists and found to have undiagnosed acute paranoid schizophrenia.

She was convicted of two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a trial.

Judge Penny Moreland told her: "I accept, having read the opinion of doctors, that what you did arose from your serious illness. You would not have behaved in that way were it not for the serious illness that you suffer."

Scott-Inham was detained under the Mental Health Act.

Judge Moreland added: "It is necessary to protect the public from serious harm that you should be detained.

"It is not possible to say how long you will pose a risk and how long that risk will need to be managed by your detention."