A WOMAN plunged a kitchen knife into the chest of a man with whom she had been on a drinking binge.

The attack came amid a row when the middle-aged man asked Kirsty Gibson and a friend to leave his flat in Bishop Auckland, following a disagreement, late on October 25.

Durham Crown Court was told he described her then, “going off on one”, storming into the kitchen to go to the fridge to take out lager she had brought to the flat.

But, Paul Reid, prosecuting, said the householder suspected she was also removing some of his own cans.

He went into the kitchen and closed the fridge door, standing in front to prevent her opening it again.

Gibson told him: “I want the drink”, but he told her to leave, so she threatened that she would stab him.

Mr Reid said Gibson made a stabbing motion towards him with an empty-hand and told him: “I’m not going anywhere without the drink.”

She then turned and picked up a kitchen knife which she used to stab him once to the left side of the chest.

Covered in blood, he told her: “I can’t believe that you’ve stabbed me.”

As he rang the police Gibson left, telling her friend: “What the hell just happened. He shouldn’t have got in my way.”

She was arrested in the early hours the following morning and denied any wrong-doing, but then stamped on one officer’s foot and kicked another in the thigh as she was being processed in the custody suite.

The victim was operated on, under general anaesthetic, suffering a 3 x 1cm laceration between his chest and shoulder muscles.

He was released from hospital two days later, and chose to leave the area, still suffering anxiety after the attack.

Gibson, 21, of James Street, Bishop Auckland, admitted wounding with intent plus two counts of assaulting police, on the day she was due to stand trial.

Gareth Henderson-Moore, mitigating, said reports indicated she is a “vulnerable person” herself, with learning and mental health difficulties, bordering on the autism spectrum.

He added that her problems worsen when she drinks to excess and, after the initial row that night, there was a confusion as to which alcohol belonged to who.

Jailing her for five years, Judge Jonathan Carroll told Gibson that whatever her problems, she “lost her self-control” while heavily under the influence of alcohol.