A woman stabbed her husband in the back of the head with a kitchen knife so hard that the blade snapped off, Dunfermline Sheriff Court has heard.
Helen Pheely, from west Fife, was said to be “raging” when she came home and threatened to stab her husband, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
Robert Pheely tried to protect himself by curling into a ball as his wife came at him with the knife after she had been out drinking.
In spite of the fact he needed a stick to help him walk, she repeatedly struck him with the knife until it broke.
Pheely (40), of James Bank Hostel, Dunfermline, pled guilty to assaulting Mr Pheely at their home in Kirkton Place, Cowdenbeath, on January 5 of last year.
She admitted grabbing hold of him and repeatedly striking him on the hands and striking him on the head with the knife, all to his injury.
She also admitted assaulting, obstructing or hindering staff nurse Tafadzwa Magumise at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline on December 29, 2008, by shouting and swearing, placing others in a state of fear and alarm.
Depute fiscal Marie-Claire McCartney told Sheriff William Taylor that Mr Pheely had multiple sclerosis, walked with the aid of a stick and sometimes needed to use a wheelchair.
A friend of his regularly visited and they were playing a computer game when they heard the accused come home at about 12.30am.Aggressive behaviourShe had been drinking and was behaving aggressively.
Mr Pheely’s friend tried to calm her down but she said she would only calm down once she had spoken to her husband.
Miss McCartney said Pheely was “raging” and told their visitor, “I’m going to stab him.”
He saw her go into the kitchen and re-appear carrying a black-handled knife. She told him she wasn’t going to touch Mr Pheely but went into the bedroom and lunged at her husband with the knife.
The friend called the police.
When officers arrived the accused was pacing up and down in the living room. She told them she stabbed her husband and repeatedly said she was sorry and did not mean it.
Her husband was bleeding profusely from the wound to his head and also had cuts to his hand.Hospital incidentTurning to the offence which took place at the hospital, Miss McCartney said the complainer was a staff nurse in the accident and emergency department.
Pheely was seen by the staff nurse but began shouting and swearing at him. The police were called.
Solicitor Stephen Morrison said his client had a history of abusing drugs and alcohol and was under the influence of both at the time of the incident.
She gave birth in February and he said the baby had given her a new focus.
She had stopped taking illicit substances and her drinking was under control. She also had a new partner.
Sheriff Taylor said, “I am very concerned to do the very best the legal system can do for this woman. I believe her new-found status as a mother may well have great benefits for her.”
He added he would give her a chance to put her past behind her and placed her on probation for a year.
Regarding the incident at the hospital, he ordered her to pay the staff nurse £200 by way of compensation.