An ambulance worker who texted ‘oppsie xx’ to her friend after trying to kill her boss with a hammer has been jailed for 20 years.
Stacey Smith, 46, lurked outside her manager’s home to try and ambush her with a hammer.
Her boss had a narrow escape in the ‘unprovoked and frenzied hammer attack’ in Dukinfield, Tameside, on November 11 last year.
Smith, of Ascot Street, was ‘filled with rage after a prolonged row’ over her work shift rota.
The attack happened in the morning when Smith knew her manager was getting ready to leave for work, Greater Manchester Police said following her sentencing at Manchester Crown Court today.
She arrived at her house at 5.30am before lunging on the woman armed with a hammer.
Smith hit her victim over the head with the hammer, screaming she was ‘going to kill her,’ the force said.
The victim sustained a serious head injury and broke her wrist trying to defend herself.
Quick-thinking neighbours managed to intervene, giving the woman first aid and covering the hammer Smith had left with a plastic bag to preserve forensic evidence.
After the attempted murder, Smith texted her friend ‘I’ve done it. I’ve smashed her head in. Oppsie xx!’
She added she would ‘go on the run’ to Liverpool.
‘Trauma of the attack will stay with her for life’
However, Smith handed herself in at a police station and she was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
She told the detectives that she had worked with her boss since 2017, but their relationship had soured since the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the row over shift patterns and the attack.
Detective Constable Stephen McNee, from Tameside Criminal Investigation Department, said: ‘This was a particularly violent attack on the victim which left her with serious and life-changing injuries.
‘Physically, injuries may heal but the mental trauma of the attack will stay with the victim for life.
‘I’d like to thank her for her bravery in supporting us with our investigation.
‘I’d also like to thank the local residents who came to the victim’s aid on the morning of the attack. They ensured initial first aid was given to the victim before emergency services arrived and also made sure that the hammer was covered in a plastic bag to maximise the forensic evidence we could take.
‘We are pleased with today’s result, which has seen a violent woman taken off the streets, and we hope that this goes some way to helping the victim to come to terms with what has happened to her and allows her to heal.
‘As a force, we are committed to locating, identifying and charging individuals who commit violent attacks such as this in Greater Manchester and we do everything in our power to investigate these incidents and bring those responsible to justice.’
Smith was charged with attempted murder and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
She was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with a further five years on licence and a whole-life restraining order banning her from contacting the victim.
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