Oxford Lavinia Woodward launches appeal against sentence

Oxford Lavinia Woodward spared jail after stabbing boyfriend with bread knife to appeal against suspended sentence.

Lavinia Woodward, 24, was handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence in September after she pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

Judge Ian Pringle QC said a jail sentence may be “too severe” for Woodward because it could ruin her medical career.

She has now applied for permission to take her case to the Court of Appeal.

The aspiring heart surgeon admitted knifing Cambridge student Thomas Fairclough in the leg as well as throwing a glass, a jam jar and a laptop at him at Christ Church College.

However Judge Pringle found that she was “an extraordinarily able young lady” and ruled not to send her to prison to give her a chance to prove she was no longer addicted to drugs and alcohol.

He said her actions appeared to be a “complete one-off”, but the case has prompted a debate about inequality in the criminal justice system.

At the sentencing, Judge Pringle said: “There are many mitigating features in your case.

“Principally, at the age of 24 you have no previous convictions of any nature whatsoever.

“Secondly, I find that you were genuinely remorseful following this event and, indeed, it was against your bail conditions, you contacted your partner to fully confess your guilt and your deep sorrow for what happened.

“Thirdly, whilst you are a clearly highly-intelligent individual, you had an immaturity about you which was not commensurate for someone of your age.”

Judge Pringle went on: “Fourthly, as the reports from the experts make clear, you suffer from an emotionally-unstable personality disorder, a severe eating disorder and alcohol drug dependence.

“Finally, and most significantly, you have demonstrated over the last nine months that you are determined to rid yourself of your alcohol and drug addiction and have undergone extensive treatment including counselling to address the many issues that you face.”

Oxford Crown Court heard Woodward attacked Mr Fairclough, who was her then boyfriend after the pair met on dating app Tinder, while he was visiting her in December 2016.