A WOMAN who threatened to "smash in the face" of the new woman in her former partner's life has been given a community order.

Sophie Mills, 28, swung a butter knife and as he tried to defend himself, he suffered cuts on his fingers, said Rachael Landin, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

Police found blood spots "all over the kitchen floor" and the man had a towel "soaked" in blood round his hand when they arrived at his home.

Mills, of Chaloners Road, Dringhouses, pleaded guilty to wounding on the basis that she had acted recklessly.

Judge Simon Hickey told her: "You saw another woman dressed in your nightclothes in the house (of the man) and that caused you to lose your temper and start throwing things around."

He said she had picked up the butter knife and "swung it around recklessly" and that had led to two of the man's fingers being injured.

Her conviction would affect her job in the care industry that she loved and her plans to go to university.

He made her subject to a 12-month community order with 15 days' rehabilitative activities and 80 hours' unpaid work.

Ms Landin said Mills and the man had been a relationship that he had described to police as "not healthy".

They had separated but on January 16 last year at 10.40am, she had gone to his home and found another woman there. .

When Mills went into the kitchen, the other woman went upstairs quickly.

Mills told her former partner: "I knew you were up to something."

The man asked her to leave and the other woman returned downstairs saying she was leaving.

"The defendant said she was going to smash her face in," said Ms Landin.

Mills started throwing things around including a butter container.

She crashed a stool onto the floor, damaging it and then she picked up the butter knife.

"She had the knife in her hand with the blade out," said Ms Landin.

Mills started swinging the knife and the man put his left hand up in a defensive motion.

When that led to the two cuts, the man told Mills to look at what she had done.

She left the house.

The injuries were a small wound to one finger and a two cm cut to a second finger that needed four sutures to close.

Two hours later Mills phoned police saying she knew they were looking for her, but she couldn't speak to them that day because she was at work as a community nurse.

She was arrested at her home at 2.30pm the same day.

For her, Andrew Petterson gave no mitigation after the judge announced the kind of sentence he would pass.