A vicious lesbian who stabbed her lover to death a

A vicious lesbian who stabbed her lover to death after she refused to go to bed with her was jailed for six years at the Old Bailey today.

(THURS)

Mother-of-two Maria Canty, 37, plunged a kitchen knife into Liz Owens when she turned down the afternoon romp and said she was leaving her for good.

Canty, who has tried unsuccessfully to get off booze five times in the last three years, then demonstrated the slaying to friends outside, saying: ‘I stabbed her.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of claret.

‘

Violent brunette Canty then fought with three police officers before she was finally restrained.

Canty denied murder but admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

Although not mentally ill the court heard that she suffered from the ‘disease of alcoholism’ twinned with a personality disorder.

Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, said that Canty took to drink from an early age.

And a previous lover made a statement saying she too was once assaulted by the defendant in 1998.

Canty started a lesbian relationship with Miss Owens, 35, and they were living together in George Lane, Lewisham, at the time of the killing last year.

On May 31, after collecting her giro from the local post office, Canty knocked back two pints of lager and some vodka before returning him.

The court was told that Canty’s uncle Kevin Canty, who lived with the couple, accompanied her to get her hand-out so she did not spend all the cash on booze.

Mr Hilliard said ‘the trouble started’ when Canty returned to the house.

‘The defendant wanted to go to bed with her.

Miss Owens refused saying she never wanted to have sex with her again and she was going to live with her mother.

‘

Canty then pushed Miss Owens, the mother of a 16-year-old daughter, onto the settee.

‘She wouldn’t let her get up,’ said Mr Hilliard.

‘She would often take advantage of her bad legs.

‘

The couple then went into the bedroom and Mr Canty heard the door slam.

Minutes later Miss Owens staggered into the living room covered in blood.

‘He patted her face but got no response,’ said counsel.

Mr Canty then told his niece: ‘This time you’ve really done it.

You’re going down.

I’m going to get the police and an ambulance.

‘

But Canty replied: ‘I don’t care.

‘

And as her uncle dialled 999 Canty joined drinkers in Hither Green Lane and prodded their shoulders with her finger as she demonstrated the killing.

But she told them Miss Owens started the row.

She said when Miss Owens called her a ‘waste of space’ she got the knife and stabbed her.

‘She said when she stabbed her girlfriend her lips went white,’ said the prosecutor.

‘When it was suggested she was dead she replied it served her right.

‘

Meanwhile the efforts of paramedics to resuscitate Miss Owens failed.

A single stab wound to her armpit measuring eight centimetres had proved fatal.

Miss Owens, also a chronic alcoholic, was estimated to be some four times over the legal drink drive limit at the time of death.

When she was arrested Canty put up a ferocious struggle and she had to be restrained by three officers.

She was swearing and spitting all the way to the police station.

But during police interview Canty maintained she had no recollection of the stabbing, saying she had suffered a ‘black out.

‘

The court was told that Canty, who last lived in George Lane, has previous convictions for assault and a public order matter.

Nigel Sweeney, QC, defending, said Canty has felt a ‘sense of loss, regret and sorrow’ since the killing.

‘While it will be of little consolation to the family and friends of Liz the defendant wishes to apologise without reservation and with the deepest sincerity to her family and friends.

‘

Clearly delighted with the sentence of six years, Canty leant over the dock and grinned at the officers in the case as she was led away.

Judge Martin Stephens, QC, told her: ‘You stabbed that lady to the right armpit and she died as a result.

‘She was your lover and had been living with you for a number of months in a volatile and violent relationship.

‘You had assaulted her before.

You also assaulted other women before and you have a history of aggression and violence.

‘

The judge said he accepted the doctor’s report that Canty was such an alcoholic it had caused ‘an abnormality of mind.

‘

He added: ‘It is quite clear on all the evidence and information that is before me that when drunk you remain a grave danger to others.

‘A sentence must be passed which will not only punish you for taking the the life of another person, but will also protect the public for enough time for work to be done on your alcoholism.

‘

The victim’s sobbing relatives were too upset to make any comment outside court.

ends