Woman used pizza knife to stab her partner in the stomach at Leeds flat

Leeds Crown Court heard that Karen Anne Mullaney and her boyfriend were known to police because of the number of call outs they had received.

On March 27 officers were called to her address on Appleton Court in Burmantofts following a call from the victim that he had been stabbed in the abdomen.

He was found laid on a bed with a blood-stained tea towel over the wound, prosecutor Rukhshanda Hussain said.

The knife was found nearby on a plate with slices of pizza, and it too was covered in blood.

The man was taken to hospital where it was found the knife had pierced all layers of the skin, but he refused any further assessment and discharged himself.

Mullaney was arrested and gave a no-comment interview.

The 34-year-old’s fingerprints were found on the knife, but she denied Section 18 wounding with intent.

This was later downgraded to Section 20, which she formally pleaded guilty via video link from HMP New Hall where she has been held on remand.

She has five convictions for seven previous offences, including battery, possession of a bladed article and possession of an offensive weapon, for which she received 145 days behind bars.

Mitigating, Rachel Cooper said Mullaney had been on remand since May having failed to attend a previous hearing, and accepted a custodial sentence was inevitable.

She added that her offending was usually linked to drug and alcohol use, and had used her time wisely in jail by securing a job in the kitchens.

Judge Robin Mairs accepted that Mullaney herself suffered injuries in the scuffle with her partner, but said the lack of statements from either meant details of the incident were sketchy.

He said: “There’s no evidence that you armed yourself with the knife. It was on a plate with pizza slices.

“I will accept it’s something you picked up at the time.

"The worrying part is that you have had a period of imprisonment and you have come out an offended again.”

He gave her 14 months’ jail.