England: Medical student spared jail after stabbing boyfriend to appeal suspended sentence

Aspiring surgeon Lavinia Woodward, a 24-year-old student at Oxford University, was handed a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months at Oxford Crown Court in September.

Ms Woodward admitted punching and attacking a man she had met on Tinder during a drink and drug-fuelled row. She stabbed him in the leg before throwing a laptop, glass and jam jar at him.

Judge Ian Pringle QC said the offence would normally result in a custodial sentence, but that preventing “this extraordinarily able young lady from following her long-held desire to enter the profession she wishes to would be a sentence which would be too severe”.

His remarks led a media storm with tabloid front pages complaining that he had found Ms Woodward to be “too clever for prison”, though some legal experts argued there were other mitigating factors in play.

Ms Woodward has now applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal her sentence.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office told The Guardian: “Lavinia Woodward has submitted an application for permission to appeal. The next stage is for a single judge to consider the application on paper and if permission is granted it then the substantive appeal will be heard in court before three judges.”