Woman who stabbed ex and left him in coma jailed

Courtney Mulchrone was jailed for more than six years

A woman who stabbed her ex-boyfriend after a night out in Leeds has been jailed for six years and three months.

Courtney Mulchrone attacked Jordan Minnott with a large kitchen knife the morning after a night out on 5 May last year, at a caravan site in Baildon, West Yorkshire.

Mr Minnott, 32, was left in a coma for four days before he woke up and had to learn to walk again.

Mulchrone, 28, was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a trial at Bradford Crown Court in February and was sentenced on Friday at the same court.

The court heard that Mulchrone, of Quarry Place in Bradford, attacked her partner at Dobrudden Caravan Park at around 07:00 BST.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendren told the court that Mulchrone and Mr Minnott had been in a "toxic" relationship for around four months before the incident.

The pair had gone out in Leeds with friends, and the court heard that Mulchrone was "flirting" with other men to make Mr Minnott jealous.

When he did not rise to it, Mulchrone slapped Mr Minnott, the court heard.

Mr Minnott then got a taxi home, the court heard, but Mulchrone called his phone repeatedly, threatened him and then later rang to say she was going to take her own life.

The court heard that Mulchrone said she was going to "kill" him, adding: "You don't know who you're messing with."

Mr Hendren said: "Courtney was now saying she's had enough and she's going to kill herself."

He added: "She'd also threatened to damage Jordan's car and he was concerned about that."

The court heard that Mr Minnott got a taxi to the caravan park, where she was living at the time, and found her kicking his Audi A1 car, which he had left there.

It was then that the argument escalated and Mulchrone stabbed Mr Minnott, who said he had been "left for dead" on the floor, the court heard.

'World was torn apart'

Mulchrone was initially charged with attempted murder, but this was dropped alongside a charge of controlling and coercive behaviour.

She was found not guilty of possessing a bladed article in a public place.

Mulchrone was also charged with a count of criminal damage, which she had admitted before the trial.

"My world was torn apart," Mr Minnott said in court before Mulchrone was sentenced.

"It was one of the scariest days of my life."

He said: "I remember feeling numb, not being able to feel my body.

"It is something I will never forget."

Mr Minnott described it as a near-death experience, adding that he remembered "watching myself, lifeless, lying on the ground".

"It was also so surreal," he said.

"It was like my soul left my body," adding: "I accepted this is how I am going to die."

Mr Minnott told the court that he woke up four days later in a confused and scared state, unable to move and being fed through a tube.

"I'd gone from being a fit young person who regularly went to the gym to someone who could not wipe the dribble from their own chin," he said.

"How could I have gone from lifting heavy weights to not being able to lift a small cup?"

Mr Minnott said he still suffered from the physical and psychological damage caused to him, and was unable to continue his work as a groundsman due to its physical demands.

Before being sentenced, Mulchrone, wearing grey trousers and a waistcoat with a white shirt, blew a kiss and waved to her family.

At sentencing, Honorary Recorder of Bradford Judge Jonathan Rose described the instance as an "unprovoked attack on Jordan Minnott which resulted in you stabbing him".

He added that without the quick intervention he received, "Mr Minnott would have lost his life".

Mulchrone will serve half her sentence before being released on licence and has an indefinite restraining order imposed.

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