Victim welcomes sentence

Knife victim Sharnee Dawkins today welcomed Katie Boyne's sentence.

The Wolverhampton teenager said: "It's a good result. I didn't expect her to get that with her small child. I'm happy with how the injuries have healed."

Police who investigated the slashing said Sharnee's injuries were the worst they had ever seen.

Pc Paul Humphries, of the city centre neighbourhood policing team, was the first to arrive at the hotel in the minutes after the attack.

He said today: "I'm happy with the sentence - it's appropriate to the crime.

"Having worked in the city centre for numerous years, it's one of the worst pre-meditated attacks I've seen, with the worst injuries I've seen.

"It happened in broad daylight, and it was quite a cold attack.

"People need to think twice about their actions. Our main priority is to make the city a safe environment for people to work and socialise in.

"All incidents like this will be treated seriously and every measure taken to catch those responsible."

The court heard that the attack was not the first time Katie Boyne had lashed out in a jealous rage. She was cautioned in January 2004 for assaulting another girl in a toilet whom she accused of sleeping with her boyfriend.

Up until recently, she denied using a weapon against Sharnee and claimed that the injuries could have been caused in the struggle by broken glass.

But police photographs at the scene showed no such debris, and a medical expert said the wounds were almost certainly caused by a razor-sharp implement such as a craft knife.

No weapon was ever found, and Boyne has not revealed what she used.