A 21-year-old woman who wielded a knife during an argument has been warned the subsequent stabbing could have proved fatal.

Natasha Smith, who stabbed Adam Sellick in the chest, was told by Recorder Lowne that such a wound could easily have led to her facing a murder charge.

Smith, of Woodbury Close, Hartlebury, was given a 51-week jail sentence suspended for two years. She was also made the subject of a two-year community order under which she will be supervised by the probation service.

Smith, who appeared on remand at Hereford Crown Court, initially denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

At an earlier hearing at Worcester Crown Court, however,the prosecution accepted her guilty plea to unlawful wounding. It was stated that she was drunk and had not intended to cause serious injury.