Woman who stabbed cousin in city centre is jailed

Ashleene Gallagher, 34, of Selby Road, Garforth, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Monday

A woman who stabbed her cousin in a city centre while going through a psychotic episode has been jailed for 28 months.

Ashleene Gallagher, 34, of Selby Road, Garforth, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court earlier, but is expected to be released in about eight weeks after spending nearly a year on remand in a prison or hospital setting.

Prosecutor Safaraz Ahad said Gallagher stabbed the victim in the stomach with a kitchen knife in the Tyrrel Street area of Bradford on 15 August last year at around 12:00 BST.

The court heard that Gallagher rang her support worker and confessed to what she had done, later telling police that "the Devil in my head told me to stab him once".

"I didn't want to," she added.

The defendant was arrested by police after she was found at a coffee shop in Forster Square and the knife was recovered from another nearby shop.

Mr Ahad said the two spoke momentarily before Gallagher took out the knife and stabbed the victim, before running off.

The victim did not realise he had been stabbed until he lifted up his top.

Following mental health assessments and treatment Gallagher pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession a bladed article in a public place.

Gallagher, who took part in the hearing on a video link, read out a letter to Judge Colin Burn, in which she said the crime was not premeditated and she was "a very poorly woman" at the time.

Barrister Kathryn Pitters, for Gallagher, said her client was suffering from the acute effects of schizophrenia and a psychotic episode.

But she said various reports had shown a significant improvement in Gallagher's mental health and she was now trusted to take her medication.

Miss Pitters said: "This is a very unusual case, as I say, but for the psychosis it's not likely this offence would be committed."

Judge Burn was urged to consider a suspended prison sentence with mental health support, but he said he still had to deal with the case within the guidelines for a serious offence.

Judge Burn added that Gallagher was likely to be in custody for another eight to nine weeks and that would give time for the mental health services to put a plan in place for her release into the community.

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