Barnsley chef stabbed pal in chest while “blind drunk” after all-night cocaine and vodka binge, court hears
A Barnsley chef stabbed a female pal in the chest while “blind drunk” after an all-night cocaine and vodka binge, a court heard.
Twenty-year drug user Jayne Bladen, 58, used a large kitchen knife on her victim - leaving her with a collapsed lung during the attack in May last year.
Sheffield Crown Court heard Bladen was off work at the time with a hand injury when she became “exceptionally intoxicated” with two friends, hammering down vodka and cocaine in the lead-up to the attack.
Judge Graham Reeds heard how minutes prior, Bladen’s victim had awoken on May 7 last year to find the defendant “ranting” at herself and another male guest, accusing them of “robbing” her.
After police - alerted by a “concerned” postal worker - attended, the male guest fled the address. However Bladen then locked the door, telling her petrified victim she was “going nowhere”.
Curtis Dunkley, prosecuting, said the defendant then struck the woman to the head with a vodka bottle before calling police, telling them she was going to “murder this c***”.
Addressing Bladen, Judge Graham Reeds said: “You made the decision for whatever reason to attack her. You armed yourself with a large kitchen knife, you sat on top of her on the sofa and stabbed her in the chest.”
However “luckily”, added the judge, the police returned soon after. The court heard shocked officers found Bladen on top of the complainant with a knife in her hand while body-worn footage showed the defendant’s face “contorted with rage” as she was arrested.
The judge added: “Had the police not arrived when they did, inevitably you would have carried through with what you intended, she would be dead and you would be starting a life sentence for murder.”
After being rushed to hospital the victim was treated for a collapsed lung and several 3cm cuts to the forehead.
Before this, Bladen had six convictions for 10 offences, the court heard, including wounding and arson with intent to endanger life in 2015, for which she had received a nine-year jail term.
Her barrister, Richard Barradell, said Bladen was a chef however she was off work at the time with an injured wrist when “the devil made work for idle hands”.
He added: “The other two parties were in her house bringing drink and drugs into the situation - all of them were blind drunk and had been up all night.”
The court heard Bladen had a 20-year-long drug habit which fuelled her chaotic behaviour.
Judge Reeds told her: “Your previous convictions and intermittent, unstable behaviour suggests you are capable of causing serious harm.”
Bladen, of Gate Crescent, admitted attempted murder.
She was jailed for 17 years and ordered to serve at least three-quarters of the term in custody.