An Aberdeen mum who brandished a knife at her partner was drunk and struggling to homeschool her three children at the time.
Nicola Tennant was still drinking following a session the night before when she grabbed her partner by the throat then threatened him with a knife.
The 38-year-old was spotted drunk and still holding a bottle of vodka outside her Aberdeen home at 7am on Feburary 5, this year.
Her own son spotted her and tried to take the bottle of booze from her before she argued with him and walked back inside.
The mother-of-three then began a drunken argument with her partner before her son and his friend interrupted the disturbance upstairs.
Made ‘slashing motions’ with knife
Fiscal depute Christy Ward told Aberdeen Sheriff Court : “They went into the room and saw the accused on top of the complainer with both hands on his throat.
“She picked up a wallpaper tool and attempted to strike her victim with it but missed.
“She then went to the kitchen, picked up a knife and made a slashing motion towards him.
“He restrained her and their son grabbed the knife and threw it into the front garden.”
The terrified pair then ran from the house and called the police.
Tennant’s victim was left with scratches and abrasions to his neck, arm, abdomen, back and wrist.
Had struggled with homeschooling
Her defence agent Peter Keane said his client had not been coping at the time.
“This offence stems from a time when she was very much under pressure,” he said.
“A number of circumstances combined to lead to this. The first was the fact she was in lockdown and she was having to school her three children from home.
“She was doing that with no help.”
He added that her partner had obtained his own tenancy.
“At the time of this offence she was very drunk,” he added. “She says she cannot recall it but she totally accepts her actions.
“She has been very apologetic.”
Attack was a ‘one-off’
Tennant admitted assaulting her partner by seizing him by the neck, trying to strike him with a decorating tool, brandishing a knife at him and repeatedly scratching him.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, who called for background reports before sentencing, said she was content this was a “one-off incident”.
She ordered Tennant, of Cummings Park Drive, to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and be under the supervision of social workers for two years.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen, as well as the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group HERE.
