Roxanne Sweeney (pictured) stabbed Louis Barnes after a booze-fuelled argument broke out at her flat in Folkestone, Kent, on Boxing Day 2023.
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A woman has avoided prison despite admitting to plunging a knife into her friend’s chest with such force he had to have his spleen removed.
Roxanne Sweeney, 32, stabbed Louis Barnes after a booze-fuelled argument broke out at her flat in Folkestone, Kent, on Boxing Day 2023.
The pair had been walking back from a party to the defendant's home with Sweeney's boyfriend when the mood turned sour and Mr Barnes stormed off.
He would then receive a phone call from Sweeney, who told him to "get the f*** out of the flat", Canterbury Crown Court was told.
A "confused" Mr Barnes waited at Sweeney's home and intended to speak with her in person, but was threatened with a "large red kitchen knife" when she arrived back.
As he went to leave the flat, Sweeney "lunged" at her pal with the 7.5-inch blade and stabbed him.
The blow penetrated Mr Barnes’ chest and stomach cavities, damaging his spleen.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Mr Barnes struggling for breath and fearing he would die.
Recorder Janet Bignell KC told the court: "He described at the time how he thought he was going to die – he couldn’t breathe."
Sweeney then "told a series of lies" and tried to convince police the victim had inflicted the injuries himself.
She told officers the knife had been thrown from her flat window, prompting a police search, which led to the weapon being found inside her home.
Sweeney also tried to flee the scene through the window to her boyfriend’s house, despite being ordered to stay inside.
Mr Barnes was airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment.
He had suffered a collapsed lung, was fitted with a chest drain, and his spleen was removed before being discharged in early January.
Recorder Bignell told Sweeney: “He now must live with a compromised immune system for the rest of his life. You are very lucky he did not die.”
Sweeney was soon arrested and charged with wounding with intent.
She offered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of unlawful wounding before trial last October, which the Crown Prosecution Service rejected.
The stabber was handed a suspended prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday after jurors rejected her self-defence claim.
But the jury acquitted her of the more serious charge and convicted her of the alternative, unlawful wounding, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Recorder Bignell told Friday’s hearing that jurors heard “no explanation as to why she turned on her friend".
In December last year, Sweeney’s sentencing was adjourned pending psychiatric reports.
On Friday, the Probation Service recommended to the court that Sweeney receive a high-level community order with support from mental health teams, after a psychiatric evaluation stressed she had been suffering from untreated complex post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse.
Nicholas Hamblin, mitigating, said Sweeney would benefit from an alcohol abstinence order while working with probation and mental health teams in the community.
He told the court: "Miss Sweeney recognises that she got herself into a great deal of problems in a short period of time.
"She understands that if she breaches that, it will land her back in this court. If the court were minded to follow the recommendation in the report, what could then happen, if there is a breach, is that the court would not have its hands tied."
Recorder Bignell handed Sweeney, who has no relevant previous convictions, a 19-month sentence suspended for two years and a five-year restraining order.
She must also complete 40 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions, 60 hours of unpaid work and alcohol abstinence monitoring requirements for 120 days.
Recorder Bignell also ordered Sweeney to pay a £187 victim surcharge and for the blade to be destroyed.
