Downtrodden Leeds woman stabbed ex partner in the back after suffering domestic abuse
A woman who attacked her ex partner with kitchen knife has been spared jail after a court was told about alleged abuse she has suffered at his hands.
She stabbed him in the ear and the back during an argument after she had tried to end the relationship.
Amanda Connor was told by a judge at Leeds Crown Court that those who use knives can expect to go to prison, but it was accepted her case was “excessive self defence”.
She had admitted Section 18 GBH with intent, which can attract sentences up to life imprisonment.
But the 31-year-old he was given a suspended sentence instead.
Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said the couple had been in a relationship since March 2023, but police reports suggested there had been numerous call-outs by Connor alleging she had been kicked, punched and slapped by her partner.
On January 10, Connor had been with friends in a Beeston pub when her partner arrived.
They began to argue and when she said she was leaving, he came with her, uninvited.
They continued to argue at her home and a scuffle broke out. She then picked up a knife and stabbed him in the ear.
He turned to leave and slipped over when Connor, still carrying the knife, stabbed him in the back.
He staggered outside bleeding and shouting for help. The police and ambulance were eventually called.
Connor got rid of the knife in the garden, cleaned up the blood on the kitchen floor, removed her clothing and had a shower.
He suffered a 2cm wound to his back, a wound to his arm and a punctured ear.
Connor was arrested and during her police interview admitted stabbing the man, but explained about the violence she had endured during the turbulent relationship.
Mitigating, Craig Sutcliffe said Connor, of Strawberry Drive, Beeston, has no previous convictions.
He urged the judge to follow probation’s recommendation to give her an “intense order”, rather than jail.
Judge Howard Crowson acknowledged the domestic violence she suffered, not just at the victim’s hands, but with a previous partner.
He said: “You made it clear to him that the relationship was over. I’m prepared to accept the taking and using of the knife was instinctive rather than planned, but it was beyond self defence.
“You were simply trying to drive him away from you, your home and your children.
“In most cases the use of a knife is so serious it requires an immediate sentence of imprisonment, but I’m satisfied it was an act driven by many factors including past violence you have endured and suffered.”
He gave her a two-year jail sentence, suspended for 24 months, and 45 rehabilitation days with probation.