Former trainee teacher jailed after shocking knife attack in city centre

A former trainee teacher who stabbed a woman twice in a shocking city centre attack has been put behind bars.

- by Karon Kelly

University graduate Christie Peel plunged a "big knife" into her victim's chest and side after a confrontation near the Premier Inn in Sunderland on March 8.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim needed surgery, a chest drain, a blood transfusion and spent time in intensive care.

The woman, in her 30s, said in an impact statement she has been psychologically affected, and added: "Every day it comes into my head.

"I don't know why she did this, she didn't need to do it."

The knife Peel used in the attack was later found by police, hidden in a flower bed at the back of the hotel.

Prosecutor Joe Hedworth told the court the victim had been in an argument with her partner that night and ended up at the home of some people she knew, where they took drugs.