An aspiring heart surgeon branded 'too clever' for prison has avoided jail for attacking her Tinder lover with a knife.

Oxford University medical student Lavinia Woodward, 24, admitted stabbing boyfriend Thomas Fairclough during a drink and drug-fuelled fight at Christ Church college.

She was handed a 10-month suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court today.

Last May Judge Ian Pringle told Woodward that she was unlikely to go to prison after he slapped her with a restraining order and delayed sentencing.

At the time he told her: 'If this was a one-off, to prevent this extraordinarily able young lady from following her desire to enter the [medical] profession would be too severe.'



The case caused outcry, with critics suggesting a working class woman would not have been treated the same as the wealthy Oxford student.

Today Judge Pringle imposed a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, telling Woodward: "There are many mitigating features in your case.

"Principally, at the age of 24 you have no previous convictions of any nature whatsoever.

"Secondly, I find that you were genuinely remorseful following this event and, indeed, it was against your bail conditions, you contacted your partner to fully confess your guilt and your deep sorrow for what happened.

"Thirdly, whilst you are a clearly highly-intelligent individual, you had an immaturity about you which was not commensurate for someone of your age."



The court heard that the star student had already had articles published in medical journals and a prison term could have resulted in her being barred from working as a doctor.

Woodward, who has a history of cocaine and MDMA abuse, plunged the bread knife into her lover's leg.

Cambridge-educated Mr Fairclough, 25, told a 999 operator: "I think my girlfriend has taken a lot of drugs and is throwing a lot of stuff around the house."

She is believed to have sought treatment for drug addiction and moved to Milan since her court appearance in May.

The court previously heard on the night she stabbed her boyfriend she also punched him in the face and threw a laptop, a jam jar and a glass at him in the university halls of residence.

It emerged after the court case that the student had been warned just two weeks before the September attack, when a colleague discovered she had been taking drugs.

Source: https://aderonkebamidele.com/oxford-student-jailed-stabbing-boyfriend/