A mum swung a knife around at her neighbours before using it to smash the windscreen of one of their cars and throwing it through an open window.
Catherine Hunter had been drinking heavily when she launched a bizarre attack on her neighbour outside their homes in Eastham earlier this year. After threatening him, she then returned with a large knife which she used to crack his windscreen, all while shouting at him and other terrified family members.
The 36 year old was spared jail today after the court heard her young son, who she provides round the clock care for, would suffer seriously if she went to prison. Max Saffman, prosecuting, said Hunter’s neighbour was carrying out maintenance on his car on Calveley Avenue on the morning of April 30 when she emerged from her home in her pyjamas.
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Hunter, who appeared drunk, then started asking him where his partner was before shouting “you fat bitch” towards an upstairs window. She then became aggressive, moving towards her neighbour and “relentlessly trying to attack him”. She then hit his car and the car of his daughter’s boyfriend, which was also nearby.
Mr Saffman said: “She then moved towards her house and said ‘let’s see what you do about this’. She then came back out holding a large kitchen knife. He then saw Miss Hunter go to the car with the knife, stabbing at the windscreen and causing it to crack.”
Hunter swung the knife around further before throwing it through an open window of her neighbour’s home where his daughter was trying to call the police. The knife was blocked by a curtain and fell to the floor.
Police arrived shortly after and arrested Hunter, who later admitted what she had done in an interview. She pleaded guilty to affray, common assault, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article. Michael O’Brien, defending, said Hunter felt ashamed by what she had done immediately after the incident.
He said: “To use the defendant’s words, she says she is shocked and appalled by her behaviour. She has viewed the footage and, having spoken to her ,some of the words she used were disgraceful, appalled and shocked. She is ashamed - and will have been ashamed further having watched the footage again today, if indeed she was able.”
Appealing to the judge to suspend Hunter’s sentence, Mr O’Brien said her mental health had suffered significantly after her son was involved in an accident on his way to school. He still requires care which Hunter provides and Mr O’Brien said it was against that backdrop that she had begun to drink excessively.
He pointed to reports from social services highlighting the high standard of care Hunter was judged to have provided her son in the past and said it would be devastating for him if she were to go to prison. He added that since the incident she had made attempts to address her alcohol abuse and was still committed to doing so.
The judge, Recorder Richard Leiper KC, said Hunter’s actions had clearly caused multiple people around her to fear that she was going to use the knife to inflict fatal injuries. However, he agreed to suspend her sentence after finding that her alcohol abuse stemmed from mental health issues caused by her son’s accident. He also said it was clear she provided important care for him and that imprisoning her would be highly detrimental to her son.
Hunter, of Calveley Avenue, was handed an eight month prison term suspended for 18 months.
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