Disabled Ford Estate woman jailed for stabbing her girlfriend in the back

A physically disabled Ford Estate woman, who requires a wheelchair and zimmer frame to move, has been jailed after she stabbed her girlfriend in the back with a knife.

Donna Bewick and her partner had dated for years, but split up before getting back tofether this year. However, their relationship fell into troubled waters again.

After going out for drinks at a local pub, Bewick was accused of inviting a man to the house and started an argument after potential cheating.

Her partner, anxious about who she was texting, lost her temper, grabbed the phone and sent “f*** you” to the person she was talking to.

The prosecution lawyer, Brian Russell, told Newcastle Crown Court: “The victim got the wrong end of the stick and lost her temper”

“The defendant [also] lost her temper. There’s a dispute about who struck who with the zimmer frame. The victim says the defendant struck her with it.”

The victim went to get her phone before leaving but picked up Bewick’s instead. Bewick then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her to the shoulder and back.

The attack punctured her lung and on the shoulder went as far as the bone. Her hands also bore cuts from trying to defend herself from the knive, as well as an abrasion to her eye.

The damage was serious enough to need a chest drain, hospitalizing her for a week.

In a victim impact statement, she said: “Since the attack my mental health has been rocky – it’s like a rollercoaster, up sometimes and down sometimes. The incident is going to stay with me and have a lasting impact.

“I don’t like going outside since this happened and don’t like going out alone. My left arm is painful and I have nerve damage to my left hand and arm. I find it difficult to walk a long way and it makes me feel breathless.

“I don’t hate Donna. Ten years is a long time to be together. I feel she needs help with her drinking and mental health and anger issues.”

Bewick, 53, of Ford Hall Drive, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was jailed for three years and four months and made subject to a restraining order which bans her from contacting the victim or going to her street in Washington.

Vic Laffey, defending, said: “These two people met in a psychiatric hospital many years ago. The complainant took exception to her texting another lady.

“A prison sentence is going to be very difficult for her. She has mental health issues and physical health issues. She has mobility issues and uses, every day, an electric wheelchair, which unfortunately she won’t be allowed to take to prison. She uses a zimmer frame and is a fall risk. She has carers in four times a day and has a bed lift.”