England: Medical student who stabbed boyfriend could be spared jail because of ‘extraordinary talent’

In September last year, aspiring surgeon Lavinia Woodward, 24, a student at Oxford University, punched and attacked a man she had met on Tinder during a drink and drug-fuelled row. She stabbed him in the leg before throwing a laptop, glass and jam jar at him.

Ms Woodward, a drug addict, admitted a charge of unlawful wounding.

At Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ian Pringle QC said that while the offence would normally result in a custodial sentence, sentencing would be delayed for four months and suggested that Ms Woodward would not be jailed but instead would be given time to show she was overcoming her cocaine addiction.

The judge said: “It seems to me that if this was a one-off, a complete one-off, to prevent this extraordinarily able young lady from following her long-held desire to enter the profession she wishes to would be a sentence which would be too severe.

“What you did 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.”

Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, said the incident occurred after the boyfriend, who, as a victim of domestic violence remained unnamed in court, called the woman’s mother on Skype.

Jim Sturman QC, for Ms Woodward, said it would now be “almost impossible” for his client to become a surgeon.

Ms Woodward, who will be sentenced on September 25, was given a restraining order and will probably be given a non-custodial sentence. Psychiatric and pre-sentencing reports recommended against imposing a prison term on her.

Lyndon Harris, a DPhil student at Oxford University and sentencing expert, told Irish Legal News that if a judge sees an opportunity to avoid sending a young person to prison they “should be commended for exploring that option”.

He said: “The task is to impose a proportionate sentence - proportionate to the offence and in light of the offender’s circumstances. If the individual was a heroin addict, or a gambling addict, or had mental health needs, and prison wasn’t the best way to deal with the offender, would the press be kicking up a fuss?”

He added: “It is rather unusual to defer sentence - it is a statutory power but one which has rather fallen out of favour in recent times. It can be very useful in ‘cusp’ cases where the decision whether or not to imprison depends on whether the offender is going to make an effort to address their issues.

“As to the length of sentence, the guidelines suggest a sentence of around three years. On a guilty plea (for which you get a 1/3 reduction) that brings it down to two years. A sentence of two years may be suspended (which is what I imagine the judge has in mind in this case).”

Mr Harris noted that sentencing is not about “slavish adherence to guidelines or general ‘tariffs’ for certain offences”, adding that he thought the judge had taken “a sensible decision to explore an alternative course of action”.