A DRUG addict knifed her mother in the chest after a drinking session because she blamed her for the death of her brother, a court heard.

Carla Ball, 28, plunged an eight-inch blade into Angela Ball after telling her: “I’m going to take you hostage and kill you.”

She had hit the victim repeatedly in the face and dragged her by her hair to the living room sofa, where she stabbed her.

Ball, who prevented her mother escaping during her sustained ordeal and had subjected her to ‘gratuitous degradation’, then began sobbing.

The victim stroked her hair to try and calm her and Mrs Ball, who was to tell police her daughter had acted like she was ‘possessed by the devil’ finally fled bleeding to a nearby takeaway and asked workers to call the police.

Burnley Crown Court was told Ball, of Townley Avenue, Huncoat, had started taking cannabis when she was 13 – the same age she started offending – and ended up on heroin when she was 18.

When arrested, she denied using a knife and claimed the violence was self-defence.

Ball, who has 52 offences on her record, had been in custody since February 11. She was was jailed for 16 months.

She had admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, last June 25.

Lisa Worsley, prosecuting, said mother and daughter had argued.

Ball left, returned, threatened her mother and then struck her several times while she sat on a kitchen chair.

Mrs Ball ended up on the floor and Ball dragged her by her hair into the lounge.

Ms Worsley said Angela Ball was sitting on the sofa when the defendant suddenly stabbed her.

She said: “She was unaware of where the knife had come from and simply felt a piercing pain in her side.

“She saw the knife in her hand and Carla Ball began crying.”

Ms Worsley said Angela Ball was found to have bruising around her nose, blood clots in both nostrils, bruises to an arm and leg and a one centimetre wound to the left side of her chest.

She was kept in hospital for two days and put on intravenous antibiotics and painkillers.

Daniel Prowse, defending Ball, said her mother was an alcoholic. He added: “When the two of them get together, they are a toxic combination.”

The barrister said the defendant had made ‘startling progress’ while on remand.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gibson said the incident was terrible and drink seemed to be the root of Ball’s problems.