WOMAN SUFFERS NIGHTMARES AFTER FACE IS TARGETED IN HORRIFIC ATTACK
A knife victim needed 90 stitches after her attacker "targeted" her face and head, a court heard.Shane Cartledge inflicted a gaping wound to her left cheek and a similar wound to her forehead.
He cut the right side of her mouth, into her right ear, and stabbed her in her right shoulder.
A jury, who convicted Cartledge of [wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm](https://www.nottinghampost.com/all-about/crime) on December 21, 2021, saw shocking photographs of her injuries taken in the aftermath—injuries which leave her with nightmares.
Cartledge's defence was that the victim attacked him with the knife and her injuries were accidental as he struggled to gain control of the weapon.
But the jury was sure he deliberately inflicted those injuries and convicted him.
"There was a use of a knife targeted at her face," said Gregory Dickinson QC, the Recorder of Nottingham, as Cartledge, 38, of Crich View, Newton, Alfreton, was sentenced to 11 years, with a requirement to serve two-thirds.
He had been in a relationship with her sister.
There was a family fallout.
The victim later went to her sister's home with her father but not to attack her or cause trouble.
Cartledge responded by picking up a knife from the kitchen on January 23, 2020, and went outside to attack the woman, leaving her requiring operations with 80 to 90 stitches.
She was in hospital for three days and spent nine weeks off work, now with permanent scarring and nerve damage around her right eyebrow, suffering from crippling anxiety.
"The thought of doing my weekly shopping, carrying out my daily errands or answering the phone, fills me with crippling anxiety but, on some occasions, I avoid going out altogether," her statement read.
When she learned he had been found guilty, the news started her healing process.
