A 45-year-old mother, who reportedly threatened to slit a 10-year-old girl’s throat after the child shouted at her daughter, has been spared jail and given a 12-month community order instead.
When the heated exchange of words between the two youngsters in the neighborhood turned to shouting, the defensive mother, Hannah Kingsley, shouted, “Don’t shout at my child,” then cursed her out while holding a knife in a threatening manner.
The Teesside Crown Court in the UK heard from prosecutor Shaun Dodds about how Kingsley threatened the youngster.
“She appears with a knife, shouting at the child. While holding the knife she shouts, ‘Don’t ever shout at my child, if you do I will cut your throat,’ and various expletives.”
At that point, both parents became embroiled in the argument, which led to Kingsley’s partner producing a cosh, also in a threatening manner.
For her part, the angry mom pleaded guilty to brandishing a knife in a public place. The court also heard that she had previous convictions for dishonesty and drugs offences.
Kingsley’s defense lawyer, Scott Taylor , told the court that his client had moved to a different address since the altercation and that she had no further contact with the family of the little girl.
Court Recorder Andrew Dallas meanwhile, noted, “There is obviously a background here and she appears to acknowledge the stupidity of what she did. Brandishing a knife in a public place in these circumstances was a foolish thing to do. It it had gone any further you would have been going to prison today. I take into account it was never your intention to cause any harm, though undoubtedly the child of your neighbour would have been frightened by the way you were behaving and the things you said were wholly inappropriate.”
By most accounts, Kingsley is lucky to have gotten off so lightly with the 12-month community order. If she fails to comply, she could still end up behind bars.
