Woman turned up at Retford house with knife

Fiona McGowan pointed the six-inch bladed knife at Maria Robinson in Grove Street in Retford and threatened to kill her.

Police were called and McGowan was arrested back at her home in Swans Quay where nine cannabis plants were found growing, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

McGowan admitted possession of a blade in a public place and production of the drug. She was given a suspended prison sentence and home curfew.

She told the police that on 6th February she drank four to five pints of lager at Yates’s in Retford, said Sue Matthews, prosecuting.

She bumped into Maria Robinson and went back to her flat with her.

But the court heard McGowan became abusive to people there and was asked to leave.

She had drunk four more cans of lager and drank two further cans at home.

She telephoned the other woman to say she was coming round with a hammer but turned up at 11.30pm with the knife.

She told the police she had found it in an alleyway and did not intend using it.

She said she grew the cannabis in her bedroom for her own use. She had been smoking it since she was 15.

The court heard the equipment used included lights and a timer and deal bags were found. The estimated yield was poor at 80 grammes, valued at about £800.

Her barrister Sarah Munro said her client’s behaviour was out of character and she had now put it behind her.

Judge James Sampson told McGowan: “You really ought to know better at your age.”

“Taking a knife to some one’s home and threatening them means an inevitable custodial sentence – the only question is whether it can be suspended.”

The sentence in total was seven months suspended for 18 months, with a tagged home curfew from 8pm to 7am for six months.