A MUM of five knifed her on-off boyfriend in the leg after he told her he did not love her.
Lisa Parker had arranged to meet Barry Dodd – despite a restraining order to keep him away from her – because she knew he had seen another woman the previous night.
They met at Bank Park, Warrington, and after discussing the woman he had been with Parker asked him if he loved her (Parker) and he said ’no’, Philip Clemo, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court today, Wednesday.
“At that stage she motioned towards him and he took the view that she had punched him in the leg but it quickly became clear she had stabbed him and blood was pouring from his leg.”
She denied stabbing him but he saw a small black knife with a silver blade and she apologised and asked him not to tell the police and to think of their two children.
She gave him her coat to cover the wound and he told her to leave and throw the knife away as he did not want to get them in trouble. She called the emergency services and left just before they arrived, said Mr Clemo.
A CCTV clip of the scene by Warrington town hall was played to the court showing the couple and Mr Dodd with blood on his leg.
Mr Dodd lied to them saying he had fallen on a fence. He was taken to hospital where the two inch wound needed five stitches inserting. In a witness statement he said it felt she had stabbed down to the bone such was the pain but there was no medical support.
Police recovered the “extremely sharp” vegetable knife and she was arrested and interviewed. She denied attacking him and claimed he was injured when they met.
36-year-old Parker, of Cairo Street Bewsey and Whitecross, pleaded guilty to wounding and possessing a bladed article.
Mr Clemo said that the couple had had a dysfunctional relationship and there was a restraining order preventing him from contacting her. “It seems that a very casual approach was taken to that by both parties.”
The incident happened on June 13 last year and the victim had not wanted to meet her because of breaching the order and risking going to prison. “It was perhaps the lesser of several evils,” said Mr Clemo.
The court heard that Mr Dodd was sent to prison for four months for breaching the restraining order.
Carmel Wilde, defending, said that Parker, who has no previous convictions, had been drinking and had taken cocaine at the time of the offences.
The restraining order had been imposed as she had been subjected to domestic violence and her behaviour had been out of character.
“She recognises she has drink and drug issues, clearly in an attempt to block out childhood trauma. She suffers from anxiety and depression and that trauma requires specialist intervention to prevent further relapses into drink and drugs.”
She first became pregnant at 16 and that son is now living with her and she has regular contact with her other children through social services, said Miss Wilde.
She now has a supportive new partner and “wants to start a new chapter in her life,” she added.
Judge Garrett Byrne sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered her to carry out 80 hours unpaid work and 30 days rehabilitation activities.
He told her, “It is only by the grace of God the injuries were not more serious than they were.”
The judge said,”You have suffered years and years of domestic abuse and you have had little in the way of a support network.”
He said that she had a challenging background and mental health issues but accepted there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
He imposed a five year restraining order on her to keep away from her victim.
