An NHS hospital worker has been jailed after knifing her boyfriend in a drink and drug-fuelled haze – and told it was ‘astonishing that he did not die’.
Mother-of-one Leanne Melling, 34, admitted lashing out while drunk and on cocaine.
She used a large kitchen knife to stab her partner, ex-soldier Matthew Clark, in the abdomen after a row at 1am over her drunken behaviour.
A judge told her: ‘Because of the cocaine you took you did a terrible thing. You could have killed him – it is astonishing that he did not die.’
In the moments before he was stabbed, Mr Clark used his phone to film his girlfriend as she had been verbally and physically abusing him – not knowing she was holding the large weapon behind her back.
Then after realising he had stabbed, the victim tried to grab the blade, slicing his thumb before escaping downstairs and dialling 999.
He later underwent emergency surgery to save his life in hospital.
A court heard Melling, a housekeeper at Macclesfield Hospital, began snorting cocaine once a month ‘recreationally’ to deal with her depression.
Leanne Melling pictured at work in the NHS where she was a healthcare assistant and housekeeper
Melling pictured with boyfriend Matthew Clark, who she stabbed in stomach with kitchen knife
But she became so hooked Mr Clark would lock both front and back doors and hide the keys to stop her going out to buy more drugs.
Mr Clark, who worked more recently as a retail manager, has since forgiven Melling telling police: ‘The person that stabbed me that night was not my partner, I did not recognise her at all.’
He said she ‘desperately needs’ mental health support.
Melling – who has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship – admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm before her sentencing at Chester Crown Court on Monday.
Anna Price, prosecuting, said the attack happened on January 19 this year after Melling started displaying ‘erratic behaviour’ when she returned home from visiting her mother.
She said the pair had been in a relationship for around two years and had moved in together – but Melling’s drug use became a concern.
Melling escorted in handcuffs at Chester Crown Court where she was jailed for five years
Ms Price said: ‘As a result of her manic behaviour, the relationship became more difficult and some violence was used by her towards him.’
She said that on the fateful night, the couple had a dispute in which Melling began abusing her partner while they were in the bedroom at their home in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Ms Price said: ‘Mr Clark began recording her on his phone and when she asked him to turn it off he said it was the only way he could stop her from hitting her.
‘After saying she was trying to control her anger, she stabbed him while he was lying in bed.
‘Mr Clark initially thought the defendant had punched him then saw he was bleeding and realised she had stabbed him.
‘He was telling her that he was going to die and begging her to call an ambulance – and repeatedly told her to let go of the knife while she was hysterical.’
Mr Clark cut his thumb as he tried grabbing the knife so he could run out of the bedroom, the court heard.
Ms Price said: ‘He threw the knife on the bed, grabbed his phone and ran out of the room. He blocked the door to prevent the defendant from coming out after him.’
Mr Clark was taken by ambulance to Royal Stoke Hospital where a CT scan showed a wound to the left side of the lower abdomen.
As well as undergoing emergency surgery he had stitches for a hand wound.
Melling fled through a bedroom window and was arrested outside her mother’s home. She later falsely claimed she had been suffering abuse at Mr Clark’s hands, the court was told.
Daniel Lister, defending, said: ‘Cocaine was the real problem and she is genuinely remorseful. The victim is obviously responding with formidable grace and forgiveness.’
Jailing Melling for five years, Judge Steven Everett told her: ‘What you did highlights the dangerousness of these evil drugs.
‘Because of the cocaine you took you did a terrible thing. You could have killed him – it is astonishing that he did not die.’
