Notts mum went into Sutton town centre armed with a knife

Janet Burrows was found by police drunk, and sitting on a bench in Portland Square, on July 14, said prosecutor Rebecca Coleman.

When officers approached her, she tapped the side of her head and said she could hear voices, before handing over a kitchen knife with a four-inch blade from her jeans pocket.

An entry in her diary raised concerns about her mental health. It read: "Listening for sirens. There's a lot of people at the Sundial.

"Maybe I'm about to make their Sunday more interesting. Watch this space."

Ms Coleman said that Burrows has three previous convictions for possessing knives in public places, and received a 26 week prison sentence, in April 2019.

She was released in July last year, but was back before the courts four months later, when she received eight months, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to get alcohol treatment.

The current offence was aggravated by her record and the breach of the suspended sentence, Ms Coleman said.

Emma Coverley, mitigating, said Burrows deserved credit for her early guilty plea, and said she had been complying with the order.

She attended ten out of 15 appointments, but was sectioned and then remanded into custody in July, and missed more appointments for her mental health.

"Instead of going into supported accommodation, she went into her own flat," Ms Coverley said. "As a result her decline was fairly rapid."

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Burrows doesn't suffer from mental health issues, and the "main driver of her behaviour" is alcohol dependency and her unstable lifestyle.

Burrows, 58, of Lime Street, Sutton, pleaded guilty to possession of a blade when she appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on July 15.

On Friday, at Nottingham Crown Court, Recorder Stuart Sprawson told her that her behaviour was "borne out of anger and distress at your situation."

He activated four months of the suspended sentence, and added six months for the new offence, to make a total of ten months.

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