A former school dinner lady from Huyton was jailed after slashing her neighbour’s neck with a broken wine glass.
Elaine Murphy, 53, had invited the Lynne O’Neill into her home to resolve a previous argument before attacking her on July 22.
Murphy, formerly of Wetherby Court in Huyton but now of no fixed address, was jailed for two years and seven months at Liverpool Crown Court today after pleading guilty to wounding.
The court heard the victim needed nine stitches to a 4cm laceration on her neck following the attack, and had been left permanently scarred.
Murphy had also made been the subject of a two year suspended prison sentence for arson in February, after she cut the wires to smoke alarms before setting fire to her own property in an apparent suicide attempt.
Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said: “The complainant returned to her home address around 8pm on July 22.She and this defendant were neighbours.
“She heard the defendant banging around near her property and went to speak to her. It is accepted that there had been some tension between the parties.
“She decided to take the opportunity to discuss things and smooth them over so there would not be any conflict between them.”
Mr Taylor said Murphy invited the Ms O’Neill into her home for a drink, and at first the atmosphere was “amicable,” with the parties drinking vodka and listening to music together.
However the mood soon changed after Murphy made a comment about the victim’s son, who had recently been attacked with a bottle causing “severe injuries and disfigurement.”
Mr Taylor said: “The complainant readily accepts losing her temper and hitting the defendant with a closed fist, but the defendant reacted by breaking a wine glass and sticking it into her head and neck.”
A medical report said the victim suffered a superficial wound to the right side of her head, a 3cm wound below her right ear and a “full thickness” 4cm wound to the side of her neck.
The court heard police were called shortly after midnight and Murphy was arrested, shouting: “I get attacked and I get f****** arrested? F****** d********.”
A victim impact statement from the victim said: “I have suffered a permanent scar on my neck and as a woman I feel self conscious, and I feel that people are looking at it and judging me.”
Frances Hertzog, representing Murphy, said the attack was not premeditated and that the complainant had attacked her client first.
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, Liverpool Crown Court. File picture. Photo by Ian Cooper
The court heard Murphy had developed a serious drinking problem after the death of her parents in the late 1990s, which was exacerbated when she lost contact with her children.
Ms Hertzog said: “The Elaine Murphy that presents without a drink in her would never dream of doing what Elaine Murphy with drink inside her did.”
She said her client “wanted to die” and had no motivation to stop drinking, because it was the only thing that “numbed the pain.”
The court heard she formerly worked as a dinner lady and a cleaner but had to give up work due to her drink problem.
Ms Hertzog said Murphy had amassed 10 convictions for 13 offences since 2010, despite having never been in trouble before the age of 48.
She said: “When she drinks alcohol, bad things happen.”
Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, said the offence was aggravated by the use of a weapon and the fact that Murphy broke the glass before striking the victim.
He handed down a 12 month prison sentence for the latest offence and re-sentenced Murphy to 19 months in prison for arson, to run consecutively.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/