MUM SPARED JAIL AFTER STABBING EX-PARTNER WHO THEN NEEDED MAJOR SURGERY
A mother was spared jail for a steak knife stabbing after a plea from her victim who was left with liver damage and felt "lucky to be alive." Jenna Dyer's attack came after he had been texting his ex-partner to arrange a meeting with a child, Nottingham Crown Court heard.The five-inch blade perforated Dwaine Herring's bowel, leaving him needing major surgery, 35 stitches and a permanent scar.
Judge Jeremy Lea said that similar attacks usually end in prison terms but noted that the victim had a previous conviction for assaulting Dyer, 34.
She had never been in trouble before.
The judge told her: "What saves you from an immediate sentence is Mr Herring's concern is that you are a good mother.
That is a tribute to him and his generosity of spirit." In court, Mr Herring stated: "I do care for her but at the same time I am really angry.
I feel very lucky to be alive - she could have killed me.
I had major surgery, it was a massive ordeal." Sarah Munro, prosecuting, said the wound left a tiny entrance hole but went through "several layers to the bowel, a deep wound." Mr Herring had taken a "mature approach" to the assault, and he doesn’t want children to lose their mother.
After the attack in a Carlton house, Mr Herring dialled 999 after getting dizzy.
"The defendant was cleaning up the blood from the floor and washing the knife which she put into the sink.
She appeared extremely calm," said Miss Munro.
When an investigation began, Mr Herring initially said he had been playing with the knife and that the injury was an accident, added Miss Munro.
Alwyn Jones, mitigating, said: "This was a relationship which had a good side and a bad side.
The relationship was peppered with the use of violence and misuse of drugs by Mr Herring." He had a criminal conviction for assaulting Dyer and another involving another former partner.
Mr Jones went on: "This was not premeditated use of the knife.
She was preparing a meal and had the knife in her possession." They "both lied" when emergency crews began to ask how the injury had been caused, said Mr Jones.
He added that Dyer is on medication for depression and also looks after an aunt aged 93.
Probation officers assessed her as a "low risk of re-offending." In a statement read in court, Mr Herring said: "I do care for her but at the same time I am really angry.
I feel very lucky to be alive - she could have killed me.
I had major surgery, it was a massive ordeal." Sarah Munro, prosecuting, said the wound left a tiny entrance hole but went through "several layers to the bowel, a deep wound." He dialled 999 after Dyer committed the assault, and she was later sentenced to a 13-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.
She must attend 25 sessions with probation officers, not contact her former partner, and stay away from his area.
The judge emphasized that the order would enable her to look after her children.
