Mother-of-two jailed for stabbing partner
File image. © Andrew Bardwell
A mother-of-two who stabbed her partner over allegations of infidelity has been jailed for two years eight months.
Sonja Russell, 24, has been given a first strike warning after admitting wounding her partner with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The stabbing took place at an address in Phillipstown on July 30, a day when her partner was bringing their relationship to an end and she found out that he had been unfaithful.
Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish, who imposed the jail term at the sentencing, said Russell had stabbed the 25-year-old man once in the stomach with a knife, but had missed any vital organs. The man needed surgery to close the wound.
Russell’s two children will stay with their father while she serves her jail time on the violence charge and an intentional damage charge for which she has been ordered to pay $1490 for the loss she caused.
Defence counsel Josh Lucas said Russell seemed to be doing quite well as a mother, but she had some personal issues – including alcohol abuse – which could cause her to behave irrationally. She accepted a prison term was going to be imposed as “just punishment”.
Judge Farish said it was sad that Russell was before the court for such serious violence.
She said Christchurch Women’s Prison had some very good programmes that would assist Russell to deal with her issues.
She noted the stabbing was not the first time Russell had reacted in a violent way. At the time, she was on a sentence of supervision for a charge of behaving in a threatening manner, also involving a knife.
She was seen as a good mother to her children, but she was also assessed as a high risk of reoffending.
Category: Focus
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