'Extraordinary' medical student spared jail for drug-fuelled stabbing frenzy
An "extraordinary able young lady" who stabbed her boyfriend in the UK has been spared jail because it would have "too severe" an impact on her fledgling career as a heart surgeon.
Oxford University student Lavinia Woodward, 24, stabbed and punched her boyfriend during a drug-and-alcohol fuelled fight in September last year, The Guardian reports.
The aspiring surgeon punched her then-boyfriend in the face before stabbing him in the leg during the row at the prestigious Christ Church College.
She then hurled her laptop, a glass and a jam jar at the Cambridge University student she had met on the dating app Tinder, the Oxford crown court heard.
Although Woodward, who lives in Milan, Italy, with her mother, admitted to unlawfully wounding the man, Judge Ian Pringle QC said he would make an "exceptional" decision in sentencing, implying it was due to her immense talents.
"It seems to me that if this was a one-off, a complete one-off, to prevent this extraordinary able young lady from not following her long-held desire to enter the profession she wishes to would be a sentence which would be too severe," he said.
The court heard that Christ Church College would readmit the student because she "is that bright" and has already had articles published in medical journals.
The defence argued Woodward's dreams of becoming a surgeon would be "almost impossible" as a conviction would have to be disclosed throughout her career.
James Sturman QC told the court his client had a troubled life and had suffered abuse in a previous relationship.
Judge Pringle told the student her crimes "will never, I know, leave you, but it was pretty awful, and normally it would attract a custodial sentence, whether it is immediate or suspended".
However, the sentence was deferred with Woodward ordered to stay drug-free, given a restraining order and told not to reoffend.
She will return to court for sentencing in September.
Newsbreak – May 17
