A 54-YEAR-OLD Morecambe mother of three who stabbed to death a total stranger started a five year prison sentence this week.

Carole Simpson said she had no recollection of her fatal knife attack on Colin Davies in December last year and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Preston Crown Court heard that Simpson suffered from alcohol abuse and, on the fatal night, had followed a man home who she had met briefly in an off-licence.

She entered his property uninvited and was asked to leave but returned an hour later armed with a large kitchen knife. Another man, Colin Davies, went to the door and was stabbed in the stomach.

Mr Davies, 48, a labourer from Llanelli, sank to the floor and efforts by paramedics to save his life were unsuccessful.

The manslaughter plea by Simpson of West End Road was accepted by the court after psychiatric reports concluded there was damage to her brain as a consequence of past alcohol abuse.

Mr Charles Chruszcz, QC prosecuting, told the court that there was no motive for the attack and Simpson had no recollection of what had happened.

"Mr Davies sank to the floor saying 'she's stabbed me in the stomach'" said Mr Chruszcz.

The stab wound in the abdomen had damaged the intestine causing internal bleeding that led to his death.

When arrested, Simpson's speech was slurred and she was drunk.

Defending Simpson, Mr Nicholas Campbell, QC said she accepted that she alone was responsible for what she described as a dreadful act. Simpson had married young and had lost her husband in tragic circumstances. She suffered from depression and alcoholism.

On the evening of the offence she was drunk and had no recollection of what had happened. The defendant had pleaded guilty and had shown remorse. Her actions had been out of character.

Judge Peter Openshaw QC said Simpson had led an "utterly wretched life" which had been unsettled and troubled.

"This was an irrational attack on a complete stranger," he said. "If she was to be released straight away she would start drinking and there would be a continuing risk to the public. A prison sentence of some length was necessary to reflect that an innocent man has lost his life."