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Inverness woman jailed for ‘brutal’ stabbing admits attempted mugging in Highland capital





Inverness Sheriff Court is at Inverness Justice Centre.
Inverness Sheriff Court is at Inverness Justice Centre.

An Inverness mother who was jailed for five-and-a-half years at the High Court in Edinburgh last week for "brutally" stabbing an Aberdeen woman in May last year was today sentenced to 13 months in prison for an attempted mugging in the Highland capital.

Leah Petrie, designated a prisoner at HMP Grampian, was said by her lawyer, Marc Dickson, to be "in the grip of a significant drug addiction" but that she was "now drug free".

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Petrie admitted assaulting Kerry McDonald in King Street, Inverness on January 25, 2022 as she was walking home.

Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald was told that Petrie was with two men when they attacked Ms McDonald and demanded drugs from her.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Petrie seized her victim by the hair, repeatedly punched her on the head and knocked her to the ground. She then scratched the woman's face while one of her companions put Ms McDonald in a headlock and rammed his fingers into her mouth.

Last Thursday, Petrie and 38-year-old Candice Seers were sentenced by Lord Lake after inflicting 12 wounds and endangering 33-year-old Tina Stewart's life in the attack.

Lord Lake described it as "brutal".

Mr Dickson told Sheriff Macdonald: "Her life around 2022 took a dreadful turn. Her mother had died and her relationship ended. It was a hammer blow to her and her life descended into a chaotic spell.

"She was taking illicit substances and lost her accommodation and she reached the lowest ebb, becoming heavily drug addicted. But during her period in custody she has become drug free. But she is going to need assistance when she is freed. She accepts that she behaved in an unacceptable way."

Sheriff Macdonald told Petrie: "if you assault someone with intent to rob them, it is always likely that a sentence of imprisonment will be imposed. It will run from today."


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