A woman who knifed her boyfriend as he tidied their flat following a late-night bust up has dodged jail.
Anna Byrne went out for dinner with then-partner Elliot Stewart, her father and step-mother in Dundee city centre.
Later in the evening the couple began to argue over Byrne’s excessive drinking and Mr Stewart left her at home for two hours to cool down.
When he returned at 1am he began to tidy up as he tried to placate her anger.
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin told Dundee Sheriff Court: “As he picked up a book on the floor he felt a sharp pain and saw her holding a steak knife with a serrated edge.”
Miss Gilmartin added: “He pushed her and kicked her away.
“The accused panicked and went to phone an ambulance but the complainer asked her not to as he didn’t want her getting in trouble.
“He then asked her to leave and called an ambulance himself.
“She also spoke to the ambulance control centre and told them she had ‘slit him a wee bit’.
“Police arrived and saw blood on the floor in the hall and living room and saw the complainer was injured.
“She was detained for assault but found to be heavily under the influence to such a degree that solicitor access procedures could not be carried out.
“The complainer was taken to hospital with an eight centimetre wound to his left abdomen which was closed with eight stitches.”
Byrne, 24, of Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of assault to severe injury committed on March 20 last year.
Defence solicitor Nicola Brown said: “She was taking anti-depressants but was also continuing to use alcohol which led to a loss of perception.
“Her perception at the time was that the complainer was the best possible partner she could ever have.
“She now recognises that it wasn’t the best relationship for her and there was a lack of support for her in it.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael imposed a community payback order with one year’s supervision and 140 hours unpaid work. He said: “This is a serious matter and is in the realms of a custodial sentence.
“However, I’ve heard enough here to step away from that.”
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