Pensioner stabbed neighbour after long-running row over property and booze

An elderly woman has been jailed after stabbingher neighbour twice during a long-running dispute.

Janette Price, 69, had been rowing with the couple who lived next door to her in Redcar, but the situation turned deadly on the morning of July 23 last year after the couple contacted police and they advised Price to keep her distance. Hours later, she knocked on their door wielding a kitchen knife.

When her female victim opened, she lunged at her - stabbing the woman in the abdomen, and puncturing her liver, before plunging the knife into her hand. When police arrived, Price was sitting on the floor of her neighbour's doorway - delaying the paramedic's access to the victim. She refused to drop the knife and officers tasered her.

READ MORE: Bryan Kohberger finally admits to murdering students - but five agonising questions remain

READ MORE: Five-year-old girl plummets 30ft from Ferris wheel before mum screams and cradles her 'bent' body

As she was led away, Price said: "I know I did wrong. They've tortured me. I only went round to say I had got a solicitor. I took the knife because she always runs off. I didn't take it to stab her."

The victim underwent surgery under general anaesthetic at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, to repair the damage to her liver. She now has limited mobility in her hand and is waiting for further surgery.

On Wednesday, Price broke down in tears as Jolyon Perks told Teesside Crown Court that the housing association which manages the properties on Lincoln Road, had received complaints "about the upkeep of Ms Price's property and about her drinking". "She made counter complaints," he added.

The police issued an anti-social behaviour letter to Price as a warning. But on July 23, Price's neighbours called the police again to report that she was bothering them. Officers arrived to find the retired carer arguing with the neighbour on their doorstep.

They reported that Price had been drinking and "was slurring her words" as they escorted her home. But just over two hours later, Price knocked at the neighbours door again - they filmed her as she told them: "I've gone way above your head. Apparently you've caused lots of problems with other tenants.

"I have a solicitor, I've paid £2,000 for. I've decided to take you to court and you can pay the costs. What's wrong with you, that you can't work? You can run to the bus stop."

Minutes later the recording picked up the victim shouting, "she f****** stabbed me. She f****** stabbed me twice."

The victim sat in court with her partner, as Mr Perks read out her statement. She said: "I am a nervous wreck. I've been having nightmares about the stabbing happening again. I've been diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD. I can't be left on my own. This is affecting my relationship."

Price pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and the possession of a bladed article, at a previous hearing. Her defence barrister, Victoria Lamballe, told the court that the there was "considerable animosity between the neighbours" and the upset was exacerbated for Price "by the fact that she lives alone and because of her declining mental state."

Ms Lamballe said that her client had shown "genuine remorse" for what she did "and is at a loss to explain how she is capable of such violence." Price will not return to live at her rented home, which is owned by Beyond Housing.

Judge Jonathan Carroll jailed Price for 32-months. She will serve half of the sentence in custody and the time she has spent on remand will also be taken off, before she is released on licence. A indefinite restraining order was put in place preventing her from contacting her former neighbour or entering Lincoln Road.