Woman who stabbed former partner blamed attack on Swedish blonde

A 44-year-old Belfast woman who admits stabbing her former partner, but denies murdering him, initially blamed the attack on a Swedish blonde woman.

A sergeant said that after arresting Angeline Sara Jean Mitchell at the scene of the fatal attack on 44-year-old Tony Robin in his Fitzroy Avenue home, on May 11, 2009, she however also claimed while she “did nothing ...I’m getting the blame”.

“I did nothing...oh my God I tried to help him and I am going to get the blame. Oh my God what you will find about this place,’’ Mitchell told the officer.

The sergeant also told the Belfast Crown Court jury of eight women and four men, that as an unconscious Mr Robin was being taken away by ambulance men, Mitchell allegedly said,”he’s only putting that on”.

A life-long friend of Mr Robin told the court of arguments in the flat that evening between his friend and Mitchell from Lindsay Court, Belfast.

Michael McGeown said while in bed his partner, Jackie had got up to make tea, and on returning they heard people shouting at one and other, and someone say, ‘please stop... please don’t’.

He said he then heard Mr Robin’s young son Thomas shouting ...”she’s stabbed my dad, she stabbed my f...ing dad”. He also heard the boy shout..”stop, stop, no need to do that”.

Outside in the hallway was Mitchell, who then went into the living room.

“I said where’s the knife,” before Thomas jumped on her grabbing for a knife being held in both her hands. Mr McGeown said he also helped wrestle the weapon from at her, as, “the most important thing in my mind was to get the knife off her at that stage”.

Mr McGeown claimed that at one point Mitchell tried to leave, but that he barred her way as he made a 999 call for help.

Under cross-examination from defence QC Richard Greene, he described the relationship between his friend and Mitchell as a turbulent one, and while he had seen him pushing her, “never saw Tony attack her”.

Mr McGeown’s partner Jacqueline Cushnan claimed that in the kitchen when she’d gone to make tea, Mitchell told her “if I was wise I would leave this place right now”.

However, she later agreed with Mr Greene that “this could have meant a hundred and one things ... it could have meant anything”.