Frantic 999 call of posh Oxford uni girl’s lover as she stabbed him with a bread knife in coke and alcohol-fuelled frenzy
THE boyfriend of Oxford student Lavinia Woodward made a frantic 999 call as she attacked him with a bread knife and told the operator: “She’s on cocaine!”
Woodward, 24, was spared jail earlier today for knifing Thomas Fairclough in a coke and alcohol-fulled frenzy.
She tearfully mouthed “thank you” to Judge Ian Pringle as he let her off with a suspended sentence — then walked out of court with a huge smile.
But the judge’s leniency infuriated justice campaigners, who said offenders from less privileged backgrounds were regularly locked up for similar attacks.
In January Dianne Clayton was jailed for six months for stabbing her partner in a row over chips.
Woodward, who once posed nude for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer society photo, launched herself at Cambridge PhD student Thomas at her digs in Oxford.
He was worried that she had been taking drugs and contacted her mum — sending Woodward into a fury.
She smashed up her room at Christ Church College, punched Thomas, 25, in the face and hurled a laptop, a glass and a jam jar at him.
In a recording of his 999 call, panicky Thomas tells the operator: “I think my girlfriend has taken a lot of drugs and is throwing a lot of stuff around the house.”
Woodward is heard shouting incoherently in the background.
Thomas goes on: “She is throwing things around . . . Ow!”
The 999 operator says: “You believe she is on drugs?”
Thomas says: “Yes, she’s definitely on cocaine at least.”
Woodward shouts: “I’m not!”
Thomas then screams and yells: “My hand! I’ve been stabbed by my girlfriend. Please come down here!”
There is no suggestion Mr Fairclough had himself been taking drugs.
Thomas, who had met Woodward on dating app Tinder, suffered a knife wound in his leg that needed three stitches.
Two of his fingers were also injured.
Woodward admitted unlawful wounding.
But at a court hearing in May Judge Pringle made it clear he was thinking of showing leniency.
He said medical student Woodward was an “extraordinary able young lady” — and a spell in jail would ruin her dream of becoming a heart surgeon.
The judge added: “It seems to me that if this was a one-off.”
Earlier today Woodward stood sobbing in the dock at Oxford crown court, Judge Pringle did spare her a prison cell — handing out a ten- month suspended sentence instead.
You are clever yet immature for your age
Judge Ian Pringle QC
Judge Pringle said Woodward had made a determined effort to rid herself of drug and alcohol addictions.
He even overlooked the fact she had breached her bail conditions by contacting Thomas.
He added: “I find you were genuinely remorseful following this event, and although it was against your bail conditions you contacted your partner to fully confess your guilt and deep sorrow at what had happened.
“While you are a highly intelligent individual, you had an immaturity which is not commensurate for someone of your age.”
Earlier, her lawyer James Sturman asked for a conditional discharge — saying the case had made her so infamous it was seriously restricting her leisure activities.
He added: “She can’t even go to a nightclub in London she's so recognisable.”
Her kinky snaps
BRAINY Woodward loved to dress in S&M outfits and bragged of spending the night in an “orgy tent” at a wild Oxford party, say pals.
She posed nude on a male student’s lap with red marks showing on her thigh and bum and posted pictures of herself in a tight black PVC outfit.
One friend said she spoke of her love for bondage and domination, saying: “I’m into some very kinky stuff.”
A fellow student said Woodward had “a real fetish” for expensive undies and often wore a fur coat with just a La Perla bra, adding: “She was known for walking round college in just a shirt and literally nothing else.”
A pal said: “She went to the notorious Piers Gaveston party and spent the whole night in the orgy tent.”
Another claimed: “I know she was involved in consensual kink.”
Mr Sturman said Woodward had spent a month in rehab — which he likened to a custodial sentence.
He added: “She has effectively been in custody for four weeks.”
Woodward also spent the summer at her family’s £1.5million villa near Milan.
Christ Church said a decision is yet to be made on Woodward’s future. She is currently suspended.
Mark Brooks, of the Mankind Initiative charity for male abuse violence victims, blasted the judge’s leniency.
He said: “The comments are unacceptable and out of touch.
“This is a clear case of severe domestic abuse against a man and the sympathy should be with him.
“The judge seems to think that domestic abuse, when it is committed by a woman against a man, is not as serious as it rightly is when it is the other way round. This is wrong.”
Not posh and in jail
OTHER women who have not had the benefit of a posh education have been jailed for knife attacks similar to Lavinia Woodward’s. Here are three case studies:
X Factor row
DONNA PATTERSON, 31, got 18 months for attacking her partner while watching The X Factor on TV.
She injured Barry Clayton during a drunken row at the flat they shared in South Shields, Tyneside.
He told of feeling a sharp pain in his shoulder as he tried to leave.
Patterson had a history of being in abusive relationships, Newcastle crown court heard.
Lesbian rage
CARMEL HOLDEN, 36, got six months for stabbing her lesbian lover in the thigh in a jealous rage.
Holden, of Dorking, Surrey, had accused her of sleeping with someone else.
Her victim suffered a 2cm wound.
Holden also put her hands round her throat, Guildford crown court heard.
Fury at party
MUM-of-two ANGELA STEAD, 49, was caged for two years for stabbing a male partygoer in the leg.
Stead, of Leeds, grabbed a kitchen knife after her “mouthy and cocky” victim, 21, flicked a fork at a fellow reveller who was his ex-girlfriend.
The man she was convicted of unlawfully wounding needed a transfusion and spent two weeks in hospital.
