Leeds sex worker threatens to 'stick knife' in man after he offered to help her

Natalie Hanson pulled out a five-inch kitchen knife after the man allowed her into his council flat for a shower.

Leeds Crown Court was told that 31-year-old Hanson had met the man on the morning of February 2 at the Community Awareness Programme (CAP) in Wakefield, a shelter offering support for the homeless and those in need.

Prosecutor Mehran Nassiri said after Hanson asked the man for a cigarette, they got talking and she asked if she could go to his one-bedroom flat for a shower, which he agreed.

After arriving at the flat in Sharlston Common, the man went to the toilet and on his return noticed his wallet had been emptied of £80. He confronted Hanson who pulled out the knife and told him: “I will stick it in you.”

Mum-of-one Hanson was later arrested and denied any wrongdoing, but admitted it was her DNA found on a bottle of wine found at the flat.

She later admitted stealing the money and possessing the knife.

A probation report revealed that Hanson, formerly of Atha Street, Beeston, had been a sex worker in Holbeck for two years to feed her £300-a-day heroin and crack habit. However, she had managed to conquer her addiction through a methadone programme during her time on remand at HMP New Hall.

She is now completely free of the drugs and the methadone, the court heard.

She has two previous convictions for assaults in 2008 and 2021.

Little mitigation was offered by her barrister, Vincent Blake-Barnard, after Judge Simon Batiste said he would not send her into custody for her latest offences. But Mr Blake-Barnard did say she was now a “very different woman” after coming off drugs.

Judge Batiste told her: “He (the victim) took pity on you and agreed to let you go back to his flat for a shower.

"You had a very significant drug problem but you have managed to kick the habit.”

He gave her 18 months’ jail, suspended for 18 months, 60 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days.

He warned he: “I’m taking a chance on you today, please do not throw it back in my face.”