Sheffield mum-of-two who lunged at husband with knife in mental breakdown spared jail
A Sheffield mum-of-two who lunged at her husband with a knife during a mental health episode has been spared jail.
The woman from Sheffield - who The Star has chosen not to name - left her partner of 10 years “terrified” when she appeared at their bedroom door one night in 2024 carrying a red cushion and with an “aggressive expression” on her face.
She stepped away for a moment, then suddenly returned and “fell” onto the bed.
Her husband thought his wife had fainted - then saw she had pierced their duvet with a large kitchen knife.
Sheffield Crown Court heard on Tuesday (February 17) how the mum-of-two had battled mental health difficulties since the birth of her children.
A judge heard how her shocked husband asked what she was doing, but her responses only frightened him further as she began insisting she was a different woman named “Jenny” and that the children in the house were not hers.
“He was terrified and traumatised by what occurred,” said The Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC.
Addressing the woman, the judge added: “He thought that you were going to kill him.”
Her husband rang the police and officers arrested the distressed woman.
She was initially charged with attempted murder, but the court accepted her guilty plea to threatening another with a knife.
She later told police she “had wanted him to die, for a second.”
“This is a very sad but very serious case of its kind,” said Judge Richardson.
“You threatened your husband with a knife in the bedroom of your family home.
“You are, in all other circumstances, an entirely respectable woman.
“But you committed a crime, and justice must be done.”
Judge Richardson ruled that a restraining order was not necessary, and waived imposing unpaid work that would keep the mum-of-two from childcare duties.
He handed the woman an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered 30 days of mental health requirements.
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