Man stabbed in 'freak accident', jury told

A man needed treatment in intensive care for four days after being stabbed in a "freak accident" at a caravan park, a jury has been told.

Courtney Mulchrone, 27, is on trial charged with wounding her boyfriend Jordan Minnott, 32, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at the Dobrudden Caravan Park in Baildon last May.

She is also charged with possession of an article with a blade or point, namely a kitchen knife. Miss Mulchrone has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

At Bradford Crown Court on Friday, Andrew Walker, Miss Mulchrone's defence counsel, told the jury she had the knife to defend herself, but did not mean to stab Mr Minnott.

Mr Walker said: "I have to make it crystal clear that it is the defence's case - Courtney Mulchrone's case - that this was a freak accident that occurred after Jordan lunged at her around her uncle."

The prosecution had earlier alleged that Miss Mulchrone, now of Burnhope, Durham, stabbed Mr Minnott in a fit of rage on 4 May following a night out in Leeds.

The court heard that the incident at the caravan park where Miss Mulchrone then lived was witnessed by Miss Mulchrone's uncle Conor Mulchrone, and Lucy Munton, who was camping on the site with her family.

The jury was told that Mr Mulchrone was trying to calm the situation and saw Miss Mulchrone stab Mr Minnott before telling her, "you're going to prison for this".

While Mrs Munton did not see the knife enter Mr Minnott, she had seen it come out, the jury heard.

Mr Walker, defending Miss Mulchrone, told the court on Friday that Mrs Munton had "missed the main event".

"She only emerged to see the very last bit of what was going on out there and she filled in the blanks of what she didn't see and couldn't see," he said.

Mr Walker said of Miss Mulchrone: "If her plan was to stab him, why not do it in the caravan?"

The defence counsel added that Miss Mulchrone had been attacked by Mr Minnott in her caravan, being punched and strangled.

She "ran off with a knife in fear and panic to defend herself", Mr Walker told the court.

Members of the jury are expected to be sent out to deliberate their verdict on Monday.

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