A FATHER who had been playing with his dogs in the garden was stabbed in the head by a raging crack addict who had planned on robbing him.

The man had gone inside his home on Greenhead Avenue in Blackburn when he was confronted by kitchen knife-wielding Rachael Love, who had made her way in through an open door.

Preston Crown Court heard how the attacker was only stopped when the victim’s son heard a commotion downstairs and managed to grab the knife from her and kick her out.

However by this stage her victim had already been stabbed in the head and abdomen. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for his wounds and later released.

Prosecuting the case, David Traynor explained that shortly after the incident took place, Love called her drug outreach coordinator and told her that she had ‘f****d up’ saying that she had stabbed someone.

The stabbing took place just months after a separate incident on Apple Street in the town, when Love had also been in possession of a knife.

On that occasion, a resident had arrived home to find several people – some of them using tin foil and spoons to take drugs, congregating in the street by her house.

The court heard how the woman told the group to clear off however they all took exception to her request and turned on her – with the defendant producing a large knife.

Another male in the group kicked the woman’s gate while a third tried to use his dog to intimidate the homeowner and her husband.

Mr Traynor added: “Ms Harris ended the incident by turning on her garden hose and pointing it towards the group as she didn’t know what was going to happen next. It had the desired effect.”

Love, previously known as Walsh, was arrested for this offence and was under investigation when the Greenhead Avenue incident took place. She was also the subject of a 12-month community order when she committed the crimes.

Defending her client, Clare Thomas told the court that Love had previosuly suffered trauma which she had been trying to deal with at the time. It was also accepted that she frequently used heroin and crack cocaine.

Ms Thomas said: “She has had difficulties in facing up to how she behaved, and the person that she was when she committed those offences. In my submission the young lady that stands before you is not the same person now who behaved in that manner.”

She added: “When you look at her record, it is out of character for her to act in the way that she did. She is now in custody and she is someone who has been able to see that as a positive.

“She has not, in effect, felt sorry for herself and sat around in her cell doing nothing."

Love, of Livesey Hall Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, common assault and possession of a bladed article during earlier court hearings.

She held her head in her hands and cried in the dock as the Honorary Recorder of Preston His Honour Judge Robert Altham jailed her for six years and three months.

She was not found to be a dangerous offender.