'The path of true love never runs smoothly', says judge as he convicts a woman of stabbing her boyfriend

A woman has received a suspended jail sentence for stabbing her boyfriend.

Samantha Barton, from Bonds Street, appeared at Derry Magistrates Court today in connection with the incident which took place on November 29 last year.

The court was told that 21-year-old Barton’s boyfriend received a stab wound to the arm during the attack.

However, he did not give a statement in relation to the incident and it was Barton herself who had contacted police about it.

A solicitor for Barton told the court that when police arrived at the scene, Barton told them that she had tried to stab her boyfriend in the chest.

However, officers said the only wound suffered by the injured party was a stab wound to the arm.

The solicitor said that Barton was intoxicated when police arrived but had accepted that she had caused the injury.

However, he highlighted that the injured party had made no statement to police, so the incident would not have come to police attention only for Barton contacting the PSNI.

District Judge Barney McElholm described the case as ‘odd’, given the injured party’s refusal to give a statement.

Judge McElholm said that it also appeared from the evidence available that the couple had not had a row before the stabbing incident.

He also said that there were no claims of domestic violence being inflicted on Barton by the injured party.

Judge McElholm said the court only had the evidence from Barton to go on, but added that there was a ‘clear indication’ that she had stabbed the man.

He said there had been a lot of drink taken, but the fact remained that Barton had stabbed someone.

He sentenced her to five months in jail but suspended the sentence for two years.

Judge McElholm noted from a pre-sentence report that Barton and the man she attacked were no longer a couple.

“The path of true love never runs smoothly,” said Judge McElholm.