Woman, 25, jailed after campaign of violence against fiance

A battered groom-to-be today told how he feared for his life at the hands of his violent ex-partner who was today waking up behind bars.
Former barman Martyn Brown, 29, was stabbed in the chest, stomach and head, bitten, scratched and slapped by his savage fiancee Harriet SharpFormer barman Martyn Brown, 29, was stabbed in the chest, stomach and head, bitten, scratched and slapped by his savage fiancee Harriet Sharp
Former barman Martyn Brown, 29, was stabbed in the chest, stomach and head, bitten, scratched and slapped by his savage fiancee Harriet Sharp

Fiancee Harriet Sharp, 25, inflicted a sickening campaign of domestic violence on the man she claimed to love, Martyn Brown.

Mr Brown, 29, was stabbed in the chest, stomach and head and left with a punctured lung.

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Sharp, from Cleveleys, was given an 11-year sentence with a four-year extended licence in court yesterday.

Today the former bar worker said: “I thought I was going to die that night.”

And he added: “If someone in my situation is reading this I hope they get out, because it will get worse.”

The increasingly sinister domestic abuse ended in the father-of-two being knifed in the abdomen and chest, causing him to suffer a punctured lung.

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But instead of seeking help, his attacker feigned stomach pains and called an ambulance – for herself – and warned him to keep quiet.

Sharp, 25, of Beach Road, Cleveleys, will serve at least two thirds of the 11-year jail term, after admitting three offences of maliciously wounding Mr Brown with intent to cause him grievous bodily between November and January.

Judge Robert Altham said: “The defendant in particular was drinking habitually and in drink was extremely violent and very volatile.

“Mr Brown was understandably extremely frightened. He had blood all over him

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“Given at this stage he was grievously injured she rang for an ambulance and told him to say nothing of the very serious injuries she had inflicted on him.

“The defendant showed absolutely no concern for him.

“I’ve seen the photographs and they show a man who bears a number of scars and a number of significant injuries. The injuries sustained could have been fatal.

“The severity of the injuries was such that the surgeon felt it was necessary to undergo an emergency laparotomy to ensure there was no further damage to internal organs.”

“One can imagine this is a situation he will find it very difficult to get over.

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“When in drink she becomes irrationally and extravagantly violent. She controlled her victim within an extremely violent relationship.

“Even to this day she casts blame on him for the violence she meted out to him.

“I’m perfectly satisfied this is a very dangerous woman who meets the criteria of dangerousness.”

The court heard the victim moved into a one bedroomed flat with Sharp, whom he had been at school with, and her mother Jane a year before the stabbing, and was supposed to marry her in October.

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But those plans came to an end when he spent four days in hospital with his serious injuries.

He is now suffering PTSD and has made attempts on his life, prosecutor Nick Kennedy said.

Describing the background to the case, Mr Kennedy said: “Mr Brown described how every weekend involved an argument.

“What is clear is the defendant drank heavily, and in drink, the Crown’s case is she became extremely volatile and violent towards Mr Brown.

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“Their next door neighbour Jodie Smith knew the defendant, her mother and Mr Brown well, socialising with them. Miss Smith was fully aware of the defendant’s conduct and she described their relationship as being out of control, that the defendant was ‘generally crazy and out of control’ in drink. She had witnessed a number of episodes of serious violence including causing him stab injuries with a knife, kicking him, hitting him or slapping him.

“The three allegations of violence meted out by Miss Sharp occurred in the period between October 2016 and January this year.

“On one occasion Miss Sharp came out of the kitchen and stabbed him in the chest with the kitchen knife, and in the course of that interview the defendant had simulated a swiping movement down the chest which left him with a six inch scar.

“The second incident took place on December 1. Again in the course of an argument the defendant resorted to using a knife on Mr Brown. She stabbed him and she was scraping him with a scratching motion over his wrist area.”

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The court heard the repeated motion cut him down to the bone so that the bone was visible, and left him with a crescent shaped wound.

Mr Kennedy added: “ Her mother called an ambulance to deal with this particular injury.”

Worse was to come on January 10, when the victim and Sharp had invited their neighbour around and drank cans of lager. A row began and Sharp started to slap him around the face.

Miss Smith tried to pin her against a mattress to stop her and the defendant’s mother kicked Mr Brown in the back.

The court heard he was crying at the violence.

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Sharp threatened to stab him and emerged from the kitchen with a knife, stabbing out at him, striking his stomach and chest and leaving him covered in blood.

She called an ambulance for herself, claiming she was having stomach pains, and told him “not to say anything”.

However, paramedics realised he was seriously injured and took him to the ambulance, with Sharp showing no concern for him. He confided in them and said he had never reported the abuse as he was “ashamed of what she had done to him” and didn’t want to get her into trouble.

Medics and police officers saw injuries to his shoulder, stomach, upper left back, thigh, forehead, upper left chest, lower abdomen and a defence wound between his finger and thumb, as well as scratches on his neck and bite marks.

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Sharp, wearing a grey top and a crucifix, sat with her hands clasped as her defence lawyer John Woodward said she had suffered traumatic experiences as a child including suffering leukaemia, and had attempted to take her life.

He added: “She kept herself to herself. This was her first relationship. She found that really quite difficult.

“He had had a relationship before and two children, and she was fairly critical of the way he dealt with that.

“Mr Brown drank quite a bit too and this was a very closed environment.

“She has learned her lesson, she is sorry, she understands what she did was terribly wrong.”