Walsall man jailed for more than six years after stabbing ex with broken beer bottle and stealing her dogs
A man has been jailed for more than six years for stabbing his ex-partner with a broken beer bottle.
Jeremy Holness, 40, was cleared of attempting to murder Alison MacDonald during the incident which happened shortly after 10pm, in Stafford Street, Birchills, in Walsall, on October 10, 2021.
She suffered a six-inch slash wound to the neck and cuts to her face and chest.
However, he was convicted of wounding the victim following the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday.
Giving evidence Holness denied he wanted to kill the victim when she refused to get out of her car after giving him a lift to his Stafford Street flat to collect her two pet Chihuahuas which he had stolen from her Wolverhampton home the previous month.
He also denied then luring her for a meeting by promising to return the dogs. The couple had split up a month before the attack, but remained in touch. He also claimed that he had been drinking heavily after the break-up and could not remember the day of the attack.
It was the prosecution's case that the defendant snatched the pets as 'leverage' in a vain bid to win her back. The court heard when she dropped him off in Walsall, she refused to get out of her car when he brought a bag which he said contained the dogs to the car. Without warning he reached into the car and attacked her with the bottle neck.
The jury heard that the commotion was noticed by several people who came to the victim's aid resulting in Holness fleeing the scene on foot. He was chased and detained by local youths who caught up with him in about 500 yards away in Burrowes Street.
The next day the police found the weapon.
Holness, moved to the UK from the Cayman Islands, in the West Indies, four years ago. The court heard he had a string of convictions in his homeland including burglary, criminal damage, escaping from custody, and was on probation here for drink driving in 2021.
He was sentenced following the trial and jailed for a total of six years and five months for wounding, possession of a weapon and burglary. He was also made subject to a permanent restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim in any way for life.
