County Derry woman stabbed man in back with kitchen knife

A 23-year-old County Derry woman stabbed a man in the back after he called her 'mad' in the early hours of the morning, a court has heard.

Hannah McCusker, of Crawfordsburn, Maghera, appeared at Magherafelt Magistrates Court last week to enter a guilty plea to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The charges related to an incident in the early hours of December 21 2018, when police received a report at 9.30am that a male had been stabbed at an address in Portglenone, County Antrim.

The court heard that the injured party had been drinking in bar in Magherafelt with a number of friends when they were offered a lift home by two women, one of whom was the defendant.

When they arrived at the address in Portglenone, the two women accepted an invitation to come into the house, where all parties spent time drinking together in the kitchen.

The injured party had gone to bed and was woken around 6.00am by his friend, who said the women were still downstairs.

After going down, the injured party became involved in a verbal altercation with the defendant, and challenged them for 'wrecking the man's house'.

Further words were exchanged between the pair, before McCusker began shouting and punching the injured party repeatedly on the head and arms.

When the injured party pushed the defendant away, she got up 'in a rage' and began punching him again, at which point he decided to leave the house and stood on the footpath opposite the premises.

The court then heard that the house owner had been woken by the sound of the commotion and had heard the cutlery drawer in his kitchen being opened.

He told police he had seen McCusker exiting the front door while holding one of his kitchen knives and, worried by events, tried to waken his friend in the house.

On his way downstairs he heard something being thrown into the kitchen sink and saw the defendant walking out past him without speaking.

Statements given to police by the injured party said he had been standing outside the property when the defendant began to walk towards him.

He told police he had shouted “Would you ever f**k off, you're mad” at the defendant, which prompted an exchange in which she responded “Call me mad one more time.”

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A judge said he was 'appalled' by the 34-year-old's behaviour.

The court heard that after the injured party repeated his comment, the defendant attacked him again with her fists, with the injured party saying he then felt a pain 'like a large needle'.

When he felt his back, his hand was covered in blood, and he rang his friend, who took him to the A & E Department at Antrim Area Hospital, where he required two stitches to the stab wound.

After police investigated, the defendant was arrested and taken to custody in Dungannon, where she gave a 'no comment' interview and was released on bail.

The defendant was interviewed again on January 29 2019, where she gave a prepared statement saying she had felt intimidated by the situation and that her actions had been in self-defence.

Defence for McCusker accepted that the charge was a serious one, but repeated her claim that the situation had been intimidating, with all parties 'intoxicated'.

He told the court the defendant had not intended to stab the injured party, but had done so during a scuffle, and that she was not a violent person by nature.

The court heard how the defendant now had a baby daughter, had previously worked full-time and had not troubled the court since the incident over three years ago.

Judge Dunlop said the incident had been exacerbated by the fact that she had gone back into the kitchen to get the knife.

He sentenced her to five months' imprisonment, suspended for a period of two years.

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