Deborah Stallard and husband Barrie pictured outside Canterbury Crown Court as she avoided jail for stabbing him in the chest (Picture: KMG)
A wife who stabbed her husband in the chest when he fell asleep while she was talking to him has been spared jail after he told the judge it was a ‘one-off’.
Deborah Stallard, 54, hurled things at partner Barrie, 51, before knifing him at their mobile home in New Beach Holiday Park in Dymchurch, Kent.
She admitted unlawful wounding over the incident but walked free from court after Mr Stallard pleaded for mercy, instead blaming it on the alcohol they had been drinking and ‘the menopause’.
He revealed the pair, who have been together for 21 years, have been barred from living together while his wife has been on bail, adding: ‘I request that my wife is not given a prison sentence and that we can live together as a happily married couple again.’
Canterbury Crown Court heard the pair had spent the evening before the attack in April last year drinking at a pub.
Caroline Knight, prosecuting, said Mrs Stallard began discussing her personal life when they got home, and her husband seemed to drift off.
Ms Knight went on: ‘She started to talk about some problems she was experiencing at the time, but he appeared to fall asleep – this irritated her.
‘She threw a number of items at him and then stabbed him in the chest. It was a penetrative knife wound but thankfully there was no damage to the lungs.
‘She also sustained injuries, but they were self-inflicted.’
Mr Stallard required emergency medical treatment for the injury.
But in a victim impact statement read by defence barrister Anna Lampard, he said: ‘The incident was a one-off.
‘It was created by the two of us drinking alcohol and my wife suffering with the menopause.’
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The court heard that Mrs Stallard, 54, has one previous conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
She attended the proceedings wearing a white blouse and remained straight-faced and silent throughout.
Ms Lampard said immediately following the stabbing, her client called the emergency services, stayed by her husband side until they arrived and told police what she had done.
She said: ‘In a 21-year relationship there have never been any incidents between them.
‘She has shown remorse – genuine remorse – about her actions.
‘It was, in my submission, the menopause and the hormonal effect that that created that was the main cause of this event. There is a supporting statement from her GP.
‘They have been unable to reside with each other for over a year due to the bail conditions imposed.
‘They are both keen to move on …read more
Source:: Metro
