Woman avoids a jail term for stabbing her former partner

By Isabel Hayes

A woman who called around to her ex-partner’s apartment one morning and stabbed him in the torso has been given a suspended two-year sentence and ordered to pay him €2,000.

Charlene Lynham (38) was armed with a knife and in an intoxicated state when she knocked on the door of her former partner Colm Black in 2020, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today.

A struggle ensued, during which Lynham stabbed Mr Black in the torso, creating a small wound and said: “I’ve stabbed you now, good enough.”

The victim said he thought Lynham looked “crazy and out of it,” the court heard.

Other people who were present in the apartment at the time managed to wrestle the knife from Lynham, resulting in her wounding her hand.

Lynham, of Castleland Court, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm to Mr Black at his home on Bridge St, Balbriggan on October 4, 2020.

A garda told Joseph Barnes BL, prosecuting, that he was called to the apartment around 11am on the day in question.

Paramedics were called for the victim, but he refused medical help.

He treated himself with painkillers and saw his GP later.

He has since made a full recovery, the court heard.

Mr Black told gardaí he didn’t know why Lynham did what she did.

He said she had been in his apartment two days prior to the attack and there had been no problems.

He did not make a victim impact statement to the court.

Lynham has no previous convictions.

Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said his client had been texting her former partner the night before and was upset and intoxicated when she called around to his house.

It was an “on and off” relationship, the court heard.

She has not come to the attention of gardaí since.

Sentencing Lynham today, Judge Martin Nolan said Lynham appeared to have been provoked by texts between her and Mr Black due to her state of mind at the time.

“To attack someone with a knife is a serious matter,” he said.

However, he took into account a number of mitigating factors including her lack of criminal history. He said she is unlikely to reoffend in future.

He had down a suspended sentence of two years and ordered Lynham to pay Mr Black the sum of €2,000 within one year.