Suburban Brisbane woman jailed for stabbing "partner"

Lover jailed over bisexual stab row
Amelia Bentley [Brisbane Times]
June 1, 2009 - 3:30PM

A Brisbane mother-of-three has been jailed after a jury found her guilty of stabbing her lesbian lover in the eye with a kitchen knife.

Amanda Lee Bentley, 35, of Kallangur, was jailed for three years after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm and unlawful wounding of her then-partner Rachel Sparrow.

Bentley will be released on a suspended sentence after she serves 18 months behind bars.

During a trial in Brisbane District Court last week, the jury was told Bentley stabbed Ms Sparrow in the right eye and then twice in the back of the neck and the shoulder during an argument at Bentley's home in February last year.

The couple and Bentley's children had been celebrating Ms Sparrow's son's birthday when she and Bentley decided to drive to a bottle shop to get more beer.

When they returned, an argument broke out about Ms Sparrow's driving and Ms Sparrow called Bentley "a fucking slut" because she was upset Bentley was also having a relationship with a man while she was intimate with her.

Bentley then grabbed a knife from a knife block and came at her, stabbing her in the right eye.
Ms Sparrow said she cowered over a kitchen sink and was stabbed a further three times before she called her son and ran out of the house.

Eye surgery was performed but Ms Sparrow said she still experiences occasional blurred vision in her right eye. Two other wounds she received required sutures and one wound healed on its own.