A man burst into his partner’s bedroom armed with a hammer and knife and stabbed her in front of their five-year-old daughter. The couple had earlier come to blows over allegations that he was cheating on her, a court has heard.
Stephanie Manifold endured the horrific attack at the hands of Stephen Flint in September 2021, after a family outing ended in an argument over his alleged infidelity. The terrified child was left begging her dad to stop after she was woken up by the scene unfolding in front of her.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday, February 25, that Flint, 37, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, met Ms Manifold in 2014, and later had two children with her. However, their relationship started to “deteriorate” around 2020, as they had frequent arguments and “pushing and shoving” each other.
Graham Pickavance, prosecuting described the circumstances leading up to the brutal assault. The family had gone out to celebrate the defendant’s birthday, but another row broke out after Ms Manifold “believed he was cheating”, leading to Flint leaving their then home in Eastham, Wirral.
He came back under the influence of alcohol in the early hours of the morning, and started banging on the front door and punching its glass. She eventually let him in as she “didn’t want to wake the girls”, telling him to sleep downstairs on the sofa before returning to bed with their daughter.
However, he later entered the bedroom holding a hammer and knife, and struck Ms Manifold before stabbing her in the hand and forearm as she attempted to protect her face, leaving a “quite deep” wound.
The youngster, who was awoken by the incident, begged her father to “stop hurting her mum” as Flint told Ms Manifold to “come out and stop hiding behind her child” before leaving again, Liverpool ECHO reports.
She later sent him photographs of her injuries later that day. He responded with claims that he “hated himself”, adding: “F***ing hell, I’m so sorry. I’m embarrassed at my actions.”
Since the incident, Flint received a conviction in April 2023 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threatening to destroy property, after an incident in November 2021 during which he turned up at the home of David Wheadon and his partner Jessica Hayes in Bromborough, Merseyside, before assaulting Mr Wheadon.
He kicked at the property’s window and door, then pushed into the hallway and began to “grapple” with his victim before punching him in the face while holding keys, resulting in a cut below his eye, and biting his ear. He also threatened to “blow up the house” as he left the scene. Flint also has a conviction for wounding from 2004.
Simon Christie, defending, told the court Flint had suffered from mental health problems and that the young son he has with his current partner suffers from “substantial challenges”. He added: “What is plain is the degree of insight and desire not just to change but to accept the errors in his past and seek assistance to change in the future.
“He has sought help from a veteran’s charity. They are going to help him to obtain his heavy goods vehicle licence. He is determined to look after his family, to support them and to earn.
“He has been very concerned that, if he goes to prison again, the achievements that he has made will unravel. His anxieties about his children have dominated our conversations.
“That period of imprisonment finally began to do what prison ought to do, which is to bring about an awareness of wrongdoing and that rehabilitation is in everybody’s interests, principally his. What we have is considerable evidence of a willingness to engage and seek assistance to rehabilitate himself so that he can be a good partner and a better father to his children.
“It is perfectly plain that any further offending or failure to engage would put him in prison. He knows that today is his last opportunity to avoid going to prison. He is very nervous and deeply ashamed at what he has done, as evidenced by his apology the following day for having caused this injury.”
Flint admitted unlawful wounding in a previous hearing. Appearing in the dock on Tuesday, he was handed a 24-month imprisonment suspended for two years.
Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: “There was a background and a build up. There was an argument on that night. You had gone out for your birthday. There was an argument about whether or not you were cheating.
“The rights and wrongs of that are irrelevant to this court. It resulted in you leaving the house and then returning in the early hours of the morning. It resulted in you punching the glass in the window, resulting in Stephanie letting you in fearing, no doubt, that you would disturb the children.
“You attacked her with a hammer and a knife. You stabbed her in the forearm. There was a very unpleasant and deep cut to her hand. She protected her face as you were stabbing the knife towards her.
“You, at the time, were in drink. You cannot remember whether or not you were using drugs but, at the time, you were using cocaine to mask some problems you were having. It is now approaching three-and-a-half years later. You have since served a sentence of imprisonment for unconnected offending.
“Because of the steps that you have taken to rehabilitate yourself, the time that has passed and because there has been no repetition of any trouble, I am just about, on balance, able to suspend this sentence. If you had been sentenced closer to the time, I have no doubt that it would be immediate.
“Anybody reading the facts would say that is what you deserve. But the reality is that time has passed and you have shown yourself capable of change.
“If you ever appear before the court again for domestic violence again, you should assume that you should bring your bag with you. Make sure that you carry on matters to improve things for you. That, of course, improves things for the people around you.”
Flint was also told to participate in a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days and given a 26-session programme requirement. He was also given a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Ms Manifold for five years.