Woman slashed stranger's face with Stanley knife after Christmas night out in Leeds
A woman slashed a man’s face with a Stanley knife while he was walking home from a Christmas night out in Leeds.
A brief verbal misunderstanding led Claire Hunter to attack the man as he walked past her while she was sat on a wall.
Held in custody since her arrest, she was freed after the judge at Leeds Crown Court gave her a suspended sentence.
The man had been drinking in the city on Christmas Eve last year and was making his way home along Dewsbury Road.
He noticed Hunter sat on the wall but paid her no attention, prosecutor Verity Barnes said.
It was thought she asked him for a cigarette but he said he didn’t have one. She then confronted him and slashed his cheek with what the man thought was a craft knife.
He only realised when he felt blood pouring from his face. He tried to walk away but bizarrely, Hunter then followed him and shouted “absolute nonsense” at him as he dialled 999.
Officers quickly arrived and took 36-year-old Hunter to the floor. When they picked her up, the Stanley knife was left on the floor. The man had to be taken to hospital to have his wound treated.
In a victim statement, he said he “gave her no reason to behave in this way”. He said he still feels anxious about going out and speaking to people.
Hunter, of Arthington Grove, Hunslet, admitted a charge of ABH and possessing a bladed article. She has 25 previous convictions for 54 offences, including affray and assaults.
She appeared in court via video link from HMP New Hall. Mitigating on her behalf, Lucy Brown said Hunter had long-standing mental health problems.
She said: “She can’t rationally say why she behaved like she did. She needs to continue to work to address her problems.”
Ms Brown said Hunter had used her time wisely during her remand and was now drug-free.
Judge Christopher Batty told Hunter: “There’s no excuse for what you did that day, you know and recognise that. It’s totally unacceptable and was terrifying for him.
“Had it been in a slightly different place he could have lost this eye. But you have been in custody for some time. Since you have been inside you have done your best to turn things around.
“You have been engaging and you are on a drug-free wing. There’s lots to build on.”
He gave her a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. She was also given a 12-month drug-rehabilitation requirement and 30 rehabilitation days with probation.