Leeds mum jailed over party leg stab horror

A court heard children were present as Angela Stead, 49, plunged the 20cm kitchen knife into the 21-year-old victim’s leg after attacking him with a hammer.

The blade went through an artery in the victim’s thigh and he lost consciousness as blood began squirting out of the top of his leg.

The victim spent two weeks in hospital, had to undergo a blood transfusion and will require skin grafts.

Michael Smith, prosecuting, said the victim had been drinking with friends in the White Hart pub in Beeston before going back to a party at Stead’s home to continue drinking with others on March 25 this year.

Mr Smith said the victim, by his own admission, had been “mouthy and cocky” at the party and flicked a fork at his ex-girlfriend who was also in the house.

The prosecutor said Stead told the victim he should not be behaving like that in her home. She left the room and returned with a hammer, which she used to strike him on the shoulder.

Mr Smith added: “It seems that it did not affect him because he was still being cocky.”

Stead then picked up the knife and slashed towards his chest area. The victim suffered a cut to his finger as he blocked the weapon.

She then plunged the knife into his leg and told him: “That’s what you get for being cheeky.”

Mr Smith said: “He remembers a lot of blood and he stumbled out of the house and others trying to help him.”

The victim went into shock and lost consciousness. He woke up in hospital the next day.

Stead, of Rington Road, Beeston, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

Stephen Welford, mitigating, said the mother-of-two struggled to remember the incident because of the amount she had to drink.

Mr Welford said Stead was suffering from anxiety as a result of abuse she had suffered in a previous relationship.

He added: “Her only explanation for what took place is that it was a reaction to the abuse that she had been subjected to.”

Jailing Stead, judge Geoffrey Marson, QC, said: “This was a serious injury you caused. It severed the femoral artery.

“This court deals with many cases where the severing of the femoral artery leads to death. We are fortunate that we are not dealing with a case of manslaughter.”