A hairdressing student slashed her boyfriend’s face with a kitchen knife as they argued over a social media picture of her posing with another man on Facebook.
Jodie Carr, 21, swung the blade across the cheek of father of one Kane Clark as he goaded her during the row saying: ‘what are you going to do – what are you being a d***k for?’.
The attack was so severe Clark was said to be ‘saturated in his own blood’ as he fled the couple’s home to head to his mother’s property.
Jodie Carr, 21, admitted wounding her boyfriend Kane Clark across the face with a knife
Mr Clark, right, moved in with Carr and her mother two months after they began dating
The court heard Carr had appeared on Facebook in photographs with another man during a night out without her boyfriend which caused a disagreement between the couple
Police who investigated the attack discovered Carr had a previous conviction for arson after she set fire to the clothes of a different ex-boyfriend and left them outside a block of flats.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Carr who works as a store assistant for Primark in Stockport to help fund her studies admitted wounding. She was handed a 12 months jail sentence suspended for two years after it emerged he had filed a statement saying he wanted her to ‘get on with her life.’ The couple have now split up.
The court heard the pair had only been together for two months when Clark moved in with Carr and her mother, after they reconnected on Facebook.
The incident occurred on August 26 this year after Mr Clark had returned home in Hyde after visiting his son from a previous relationship while she went out for the night with friends.
In a statement which formed her basis of plea to the court Carr said: ‘I was out on the evening and Kane was at home alone that night.
Mr Clark wrote to the court claiming he wanted his ex-girlfriend, right, to ‘get on with her life’
‘During the course of the evening I received several messages from Kane concerning pictures of me on Facebook with another man. It was obvious to me that Kane was jealous.
‘I returned to the house in the early hours, and Kane didn’t answer the door, I was making such a noise by shouting for him to let me in that both my neighbours woke up and wanted to know what was happening.
‘I don’t believe that Kane wasn’t awake to not let me in. Eventually I had to break into my own home by breaking a window.
Mr Clark suffered a two-inch knife wound on his head as well as several scratches
‘I went upstairs and Kane was in bed with his arms folded. I was under the impression that he had been drinking. He began to question me about what was on Facebook.
‘We began arguing and when I tried to open the door to tell him to leave, he pushed me onto the bed and ripped my blouse.
‘I went downstairs into the kitchen and he followed and we continued to argue. He punched me in the stomach twice and continued to shout at me.
‘I picked up the knife which was close to me, and he was putting his head close to mine, and the knife was in my hand.
‘I don’t know exactly what happened next but I didn’t intend to cause injury. I only realised what had happened after I saw blood going down his face. He said to me ‘you’re going down for what you have done’ and he left the house.’
But Nicola Wells prosecuting said: ‘In relation to previous incidents that complainants statement implies that she had been violent in the relationship previously whilst the defendant described the relationship as good.
‘He was alone in the property and he went to bed about 11pm, he was expecting the defendant to come back around 2am. He admitted goading the defendant when she had the knife, saying ‘what are you going to do’, and that the attack had felt like a punch rather than a slash.
‘He says the defendant swung the knife around at him and he only realised what had happened after he saw his face in the mirror. He left the premises and went to his mother’s house. He was saturated in his own blood when he arrived and his mother called the police and ambulance.
You are very fortunate that you are not in the dock hearing a murder trial opening
‘The gash on his head was two inches long and he had scratches on the side of his face.’
The court heard Clark had since made a retraction statement saying that he wanted Carr to ‘get on with her life’ – although he did not want them to get back together.
In mitigation, Carr’s lawyer Jonathan Savage said: ‘This is a young lady who has the prospect of improving her life from the offences that she has committed. She has secured work six days a week which she fits in with college commitments, working in the evenings and weekends.
‘She is very fortunate that the injury that he sustained wasn’t more serious and very fortunate that his view is that he wants her to get on with her life.’
Passing sentence Judge Paul Lawton told Carr: ‘You are very fortunate that you are not in the dock hearing a murder trial opening. Had the knife slashed him six inches lower you would have severed his jugular and he would have bled to death.
‘This is the second episode of violence of retribution on a partner in the last year, with a previous conviction of arson where you set fire to a previous partners clothes outside their home. You have come within a whisker of going to a female prison.
‘I understand that the complainant was not entirely innocent but it is inexcusable to take and use a knife which is potentially a lethal weapon.
Carr was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £500.