A woman who uses a wheelchair and zimmer frame has been jailed for knifing her girlfriend in the back.
Donna Bewick and the victim had been in a relationship for years but split up for three years before spending time together again from February. They got on well to begin with but relations began to deteriorate.
They went out for drinks at local pubs at the beginning of March and got into a dispute after Bewick invited a man back. After the two women got home, an argument erupted again in the kitchen about who Bewick was texting.
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Brian Russell, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "The victim got the wrong end of the stick and lost her temper and grabbed the phone and texted 'f*** you' to the person she was communicating with.
"The defendant lost her temper. There's a dispute about who struck who with the zimmer frame. The victim says the defendant struck her with it."
The victim went to get her phone before leaving but picked up Bewick's instead. Bewick then picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her to the shoulder and back.
One of the wounds penetrated her lung and one of the two wounds to her shoulder went down to the bone. She also had defensive cuts to her hands and an abrasion to her eye. She needed a chest drain and was in hospital for six days.
In a victim impact statement, she said: "Since the attack my mental health has been rocky - it's like a rollercoaster, up sometimes and down sometimes. The incident is going to stay with me and have a lasting impact.
"I don't like going outside since this happened and don't like going out alone. My left arm is painful and I have nerve damage to my left hand and arm. I find it difficult to walk a long way and it makes me feel breathless.
"I don't hate Donna. Ten years is a long time to be together. I feel she needs help with her drinking and mental health and anger issues."
Bewick, 53, of Ford Hall Drive, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was jailed for three years and four months and made subject to a restraining order which bans her from contacting the victim or going to her street in Washington.
Vic Laffey, defending, said: "These two people met in a psychiatric hospital many years ago. The complainant took exception to her texting another lady.
"A prison sentence is going to be very difficult for her. She has mental health issues and physical health issues. She has mobility issues and uses, every day, an electric wheelchair, which unfortunately she won't be allowed to take to prison. She uses a zimmer frame and is a fall risk. She has carers in four times a day and has a bed lift."
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