A mother-of-one was stabbed twice by her boyfriend in a motiveless breakfast time attack as he appeared to be offering her a cup of tea.
Joanne Smallwood had woken up on her couch at 9am to find fitness fanatic Malcolm O’Connor, 47, standing over her after they slept in separate rooms following an argument the previous evening.
At first she assumed that O’Connor was about to ask her if she wanted tea – but instead he grabbed hold of Miss Smallwood and stabbed her in the back as the pair engaged in a violent struggle.
She was rescued by her son Alan, 18 who heard his mother’s screams for help, and amazingly escaped with just two minor superficial wounds which were closed by doctors using sutures.
Miss Smallwood and O’Connor, who had dated for 20 months before the attack in April this year, have since split up.
Today, as maintenance worker O’Connor, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, begins 28 months in jail, Miss Smallwood revealed how she was left with feelings of ‘self blame’ after last April’s incident.
In a statement to police she said she had symptoms of PTSD and added: ‘I feel broken by what happened and the impact of being stabbed has left me devastated and it pains me to think my family have suffered as well.
‘The fact the stab wounds were inflicted by someone I loved has given me tremendous psychological issues to deal with. I have difficulty sleeping and feel totally lost.
Joanne Smallwood had woken up on her couch at 9am to find Malcolm O’Connor, 47, stood over her after they slept in separate rooms following an argument the previous evening. At first she assumed that O’Connor was about to ask her if she wanted tea – but instead he grabbed hold of Miss Smallwood and stabbed her in the back as the pair engaged in a violent struggle
Miss Smallwood revealed how she was left with feelings of ‘self blame’ after last April’s incident. In a statement to police she said she had symptoms of PTSD
‘Even during the lockdown I never wanted to leave the house or communicate with anyone and I have been isolating from the outside world. I feel inadequate and worthless and suffer from panic attacks.’
Minshull Street Crown Court was told the incident occurred on April 26 after the couple had attended a family BBQ.
Prosecuting, Isobel Thomas said: ‘They had been drinking and when they got home they had an argument in which the defendant accused Joanne of shoving him into a door.
‘She said she didn’t recall the incident but said if she had done so she was sorry. However he started going head to head with her in her face and began ‘nutting’ her whilst talking to her.
‘He was telling her to hit him which she eventually did but he headbutted her again. She phoned her mum and her brother was sent over. Joanne left the house to clear her head for 20 minutes but returned to find her brother had gone and the defendant was upstairs with a bottle of gin.
‘She took it away as she thought he had had enough and she fell asleep on the sofa. The next morning she woke up to hear the defendant moving around the house.
‘She heard him go into the kitchen before coming into the front room. She thought he was going to ask her if she wanted a cup of tea but he just stood there for about a minute saying nothing.
‘He then grabbed her pulled her forward and she felt a thud to her back and she opened her eyes to find him stood over her with a blunt kitchen knife in one hand and his other hand in a glove.
‘Joanne asked what he was doing and he lunged at her again. Initially she didn’t know what had happened to her then she realised she had been stabbed.
Father-of-one O’Connor pleaded not guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm but admitted unlawful wounding when he stabbed Miss Smallwood twice in April
‘Joanne tried to grab the knife and they were struggling on the floor and she was screaming for her son Alan to help. Alan came into the room and saw the defendant had hold of Joanne’s arm and was waving the knife around.
‘Alan stayed calm and asked the defendant what he was doing before they escaped into the kitchen and alerted police. Joanne had been on the sofa alone and asleep when the attack took place.’
After the assault, O’Connor went back upstairs and sat on his bed with the knife, waiting for police to arrive. He later claimed he was acting in self-defence and that the wounds were inflicted ‘accidentally’.
Father-of-one O’Connor pleaded not guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm but admitted unlawful wounding.
He had a 2013 conviction for assault after he throttled his previous girlfriend during a row which caused her to lose consciousness.
In mitigation, defence counsel Rachel Faux said Miss Smallwood had been arrested by police five months before the attack for an assault on O’Connor. The case was not pursued by him.
O’Connor was also banned from contacting Miss Smallwood for 10 years
Miss Faux added: ‘On this particular evening there was a fall out between the complainant and her family which resulted in them coming home from the BBQ after he took the decision to try to resolve the aggravating situation.
‘He express regret and remorse. He was shocked by what occurred and he takes full responsibility for the injuries caused. He does not in any way attempt to justify his behaviour. He recognises too that she is the victim and that she has been impacted physically and psychologically.’
O’Connor was also banned from contacting Miss Smallwood for 10 years under the terms of a restraining order.
Sentencing Judge John Edwards told him: ‘You must appreciate that the impact of this attack has left your partner devastated and the fact it was inflicted by someone she once loved has been a tremendous psychological blow to her.
‘She feels she is is to blame which of course she isn’t. The physical pain will heal sooner than the psychological pain.
‘Violence on a partner is all the more serious because it represents a violation of the trust and security the partner is entitled to feel under their own roof in an intimate relationship.
‘Your account of this being accidental and self-defence was maintained for six months and she’s spent that period worried about the prospect of reliving this incident in an open forum.’