2013: BOYFRIEND JAILED AFTER STABBING PARTNER IN NECK WITH SHARD OF BROKEN MIRROR
A man named Mark Lord was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after admitting to causing serious injuries to his partner, Cassandra Duff, during an incident at her home.Lord, who was under the influence of alcohol and claimed to have taken too many anti-depressant pills, attacked Ms Duff with a shard of broken mirror.
Prosecutor Lisi Ke explained that Lord and Ms Duff had been together for nine months.
On February 2, they went drinking at the Old Original Bay Horse pub in Horwich with friends, and later returned to her residence on Crown Lane around 11 pm.
In the early hours of the next morning, Lord left and returned at 4 am with his friend Chris Warne.
At Bolton Crown Court, it was revealed that Lord, of Wilderswood Avenue, Horwich, was acting erratically, jumping and raving, claiming he had taken the illegal drug Bubble, which he later denied.
The court heard that a confrontation occurred when Ms Duff’s friend Julie Williams and Mr Warne became involved.
Ms Duff asked Lord to leave her house, but he refused.
Lord then became enraged, headbutting and punching a door, ripping a mirror from above the fireplace, and smashing it on the floor.
He grabbed an eight-inch shard of the broken mirror, ran into the kitchen, and attacked Ms Duff, stabbing her, choking her, and hitting her.
She fled upstairs, bleeding from deep cuts on her arm and neck, and told friends she was stabbed and wanted her mother.
Lord later entered the bedroom holding a ten-inch kitchen knife, stabbing a door panel before leaving the house and handing himself to police.
Medical reports indicated Ms Duff required stitches for her stab wounds, suffered a fractured hand, and needed jaw surgery due to injuries sustained from Lord punching her.
She attended court to support Lord, with her solicitor noting her shock at his irrational and uncharacteristic behavior.
It was also disclosed that Lord’s behavioral changes might be linked to recent traumatic events, including being assaulted a year earlier, being prescribed anti-depressants, losing his job, and experiencing his partner’s miscarriage.
Lord, who has a prior criminal record including violent offenses, claimed he had little recall of the attack.
Judge Roger Farley QC sentenced Lord to nearly seven years in prison, citing that the incident was likely triggered by excessive use of anti-depressants combined with alcohol consumption.
