A woman who held a knife to the throat of her mother and cut her thumb after accusing her of taking her drugs has been jailed.

Preston Crown Court heard how Alisha Oakley, 23, was given a suspended sentence in 2022 for stabbing a man in the head at a party.

She breached the conditions of this suspended sentence by failing without reasonable excuse to attend planned appointments with a responsible officer.

Oakley then, on March 9, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage at Blackburn Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Charlotte Phillips told the court how since early January, Oakley had been living with her mother in Darwen and they regularly had verbal altercations, particularly over Oakley’s drug use.

She would come across as aggressive and, on March 6, accused her mother of taking her cocaine, which her mother denied.

Around 30 minutes later, when her mother was in bed, Oakley came up the stairs carrying a large knife, approximately 10cm in length.

She approached her mother at speed and jumped on top of her in the bed, positioning her legs either side of her while trying to push the knife against her throat.

The mother lifted her right hand to try and stop the knife, but it instead made contact with her right thumb, which began to bleed heavily and for some time.

Oakley left the room and went to a local shop to buy plasters and bandages to help stem the bleeding.

The second instance occurred at around 8am on March 8, when Oakley accused her mother of using her phone.

Again, this was denied and Oakley left the address in Birchall Avenue.

She returned, but her mother had locked the door and from the front window said she was not allowed back in.

This prompted Oakley to pick up a rock and throw it at the front door, smashing an upper panel and causing damage of around £100.

Mitigating, Neil Howard said there had been a lot of conflict between Oakley and her mother, though she accepted she was unreasonable and this unfortunately led to the incident.

The argument escalated and Oakley accepted she lost her temper and went to retrieve a knife.

Two days later her behaviour had not improved and she was ejected from the property.

When she went back to retrieve her dog, another argument ensued which led to the criminal damage.

Howard added Oakley had “genuine remorse” for her actions.

Passing sentence, Judge Richard Archer said: “On May 31 last year you were made subject of a suspended sentence by Canterbury Crown Court, imposed for the offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

"It is not for me to revisit that sentence. In the decision I make today I do not mention it.

“The offence, or the consequences of it, charged as an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, involved you confronting your mother who was laying on her bed in her home, wielding a knife, and pushing that knife against her throat.

“You recklessly struck her thumb causing a wound. You then later returned with an Elastoplast to assist in what you had done. That might have been a wakeup call.

“But it was not a sufficient realisation to prevent you, two days later, returning to your mother’s property and causing criminal damage to the front door.

"That is of course the least serious of the offences you have committed but it is reflective of someone who was out of control.

“The mere fact of a suspended sentence was not a sufficient deterrent for you.”

Judge Archer sentenced Phillips to the two years that was part of her previous suspended sentence and an additional eight months for the assault, to run consecutively together, giving a total sentence of two years and eight months.