Mansfield mum hurled kitchen knife at neighbour which landed near small girls

Candice Smart-Lawrence armed herself with the seven-inch blade after hearing banging on the front door of her home on Singleton Avenue, on July 21, 2022, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

Her 19-year-old victim panicked and ran away, but she threw the knife which flew past his right shoulder by a foot and landed in the road near two small girls.

He picked it up and gave it to the police, telling them the incident “reminded him of when his brother had been stabbed” and “he was shocked at what took place.”

The day before there had been an altercation between Smart-Lawrence and two of her neighbours, but no further police action was taken, the court heard.

She said she felt intimidated when he banged on her door, and took the knife from the kitchen. She told officers she didn’t care about her actions as she was protecting her children.

The court heard she has previous convictions for 33 offences over the last two decades.

Smart-Lawrence, aged 33, admitted making threats with a blade, when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on March 14 last year.

Sentencing was adjourned until Tuesday, when Judge John Sampson told her: “This was disgraceful behaviour and you know it it was particularly disturbing because of the presence of young children in the street.

“That said, you were clearly provoked by this young man, you are of low risk to the public and you haven't been in trouble since.”

He added that the mum-of-two deserved full credit for her early guilty plea.

“Because of these factors I am not going to send you away straight away but the custody threshold has been crossed,” he said.

“I think you can be worked with by the probation service.”

Judge Sampson imposed an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 40 rehabilitation days and up to 36 days of a thinking skills programme.

But he warned Smart-Lawrence that custody is still an option if she commits any further offences or fails to cooperate with probation.