A woman who stabbed a nightclub door after losing her phone inside the venue says she was spiked.
Natasha Banawich knifed the entrance to Heaven, on Victoria Street in Liverpool city centre, as shocked clubbers looked on. The mum was then tackled and disarmed by brave door staff.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Friday, that the 38-year-old has visited the LGBT-friendly bar during a night out but had left her mobile phone and purse behind. As the premises was closing up at around 5am on Thursday, August 4, Banawich returned brandishing a kitchen knife with an eight-inch blade.
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She then used the weapon to stab the closed front door before knifing the seat of a motorbike which was parked up nearby. The club's security staff rushed to apprehend her and remove the knife from her grasp, restraining her until police arrived to arrest her.
The incident was captured on CCTV, with the footage being played to the court. It showed around two dozen members of the public were present in the vicinity at the time.
Banawich, of Beatty Close in Whiston, caused around £300 of damage as a result. Under interview, the mother to a 16-year-old boy told officers she was "alcohol dependent" and that she had been "drunk and couldn't remember the circumstances".
Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, said: "It is a very dangerous situation. There is a risk of serious disorder if someone has a knife in that context."
After being released, Banawich returned to Heaven and her phone was returned to her. She has two previous convictions for assaulting a police officer and travelling on a railway without a ticket, committed in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The court was told that she had attended a house party on the night in question and believes she was spiked in the flat, having also taken the blade from the apartment. Helen Dugdale, defending, described how her client had turned to drink after falling victim to serious domestic abuse.
She added: "She believes she was spiked with something. The reason she says that is when she was arrested, the observations of the police officers made her consider that must be the case.
"It wasn't how she was normally affected by alcohol. When interviewed the following day, she still felt that something was not quite right.
"There was obviously something in her mind which she does not recall. She believed something had happened in the club where her money and mobile phone went missing.
"Ms Banawich is a lady who had a significantly troubled childhood. The real starting point is her relationship with Thomas Barnes.
"The relationship had been ongoing for a period of five years. Ms Banawich tells me there were no issues until that point.
"When she made Mr Barnes aware that she was pregnant, his behaviour completely changed. He became abusive and called her names constantly.
"He also was very controlling. She was not allowed to be with her friends or home on her own.
"He was also taking cocaine, which led to his paranoia. He was making threats towards her and he believed she was having an affair.
"She would have alcohol to ease the stress she was in. It did culminate quite significantly.
"She was kept in the flat - she was kidnapped, and she suffered a significant amount of injury and abuse. Mr Barnes received a long custodial sentence.
"That experience, coupled with what happened in her childhood, resulted in her using alcohol as a coping mechanism. She knows she has to make amends and she needs to be alcohol free."
Banawich admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place and criminal damage and was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for two years. She must also serve a three-month electronically-monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am, a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Sentencing, Recorder Kevin Slack said: "Anyone who was present in close proximity to you would have been shocked by your brandishing of the knife. I'm entirely satisfied that some of those present would have been very frightened by what was going on.
"I accept this was out of character. I am pleased to hear you are shocked, because it genuinely is shocking.
"It is fortunate no-one was hurt. You have a long-standing problem with alcoholism.
"You are a person who has suffered severe long-standing domestic abuse in relation to the father of your son. You are lightly convicted, and I don't consider your convictions to be relevant.
"Ordinarily, those who carry knives in public can expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence. I am just about persuaded that the custodial sentence in this case can be suspended."
Banawich was also told to pay a victim surcharge, with forfeiture and destruction of the knife ordered.
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