Gillingham woman who stabbed neighbour 11 times in ‘brewing conflict’ over noise jailed
The 43 year old was found hiding in a boiler cupboard in a neighbouring flat when officers arrested her
A woman who was in a “brewing conflict” with her neighbour over noise before she stabbed her 11 times with a large kitchen knife has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.
Helen Tillcock, 43, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday for the “frenzied” attack on Sarah Hodges who was knifed repeatedly to the face, head and chest on July 20 last year.
The pair had been friendly and shared Christmas dinner together as neighbours at their ground floor flats in Gillingham, Kent, before relations “soured over the years”, the court heard.
Tillcock, of Barnsole Road, Gillingham, had been cleared of attempted murder during a trial at the same court in January, but was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On the night of the attack, Tillcock, was drunk, “antagonising” and “deliberately and loudly” slammed the front door which could be heard by Ms Hodges, who responded by shouting at her.
Ms Hodges went to her back garden, which was separated from Tillcock’s flat by a fence.
Tillcock met her outside having left her home with a knife in her hand.
The defendant had told the jury she had the knife because she was planning to make a snack of some crackers and cheese, but then said she was unaware she had the knife in her hand as she left the back door.
Judge Catherine Moore said it was “not credible”.
“You were well aware you had the knife as you went to the door,” she said.
The judge also said the jury clearly rejected her claim of self-defence, adding: “I accept you sustained injuries, I find you were the aggressor and injuries you sustained were where Sarah Hodges responded.”
Tillcock had complained about noise to others including her landlord and Judge Moore said it was clear in the lead up to the night of the attack she was “increasingly frustrated” with Ms Hodges.
The judge said messages sent to others before the attack including reference to Ms Hodges’s cat being killed, and how she wanted to kill Ms Hodges were not indicative of more “sinister intention” but “what was clear you were becoming increasingly irritated in the time leading up to your assault on her”.
Prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour told the court Ms Hodges was not completely clear what happened after going outside but she recalls being struck and blood down her face.
She slumped down in her bathroom and called an ambulance, he said.
In a victim impact statement read to court, Ms Hodges said she has lost the love for her life and struggles to do things that bring her joy.
She has gone from being an “outgoing” person to “suddenly unable to face people closest to me”.
She said she noticed how she is scared of living in her own house, adding: “Now I can’t face going outside and seeing the garden having to relive that night again.”
Tillcock was hiding in a boiler cupboard in a neighbouring flat when officers eventually located her and arrested her, the court heard.
Arrest footage shows Tillcock in a cupboard with a police officer saying: “Mate come out, come out, come out.”
Defending Tillcock, barrister Ben Irwin told the court her life was “bluntly miserable, difficult and filled with hardship” but the care industry worker “continued to live a life where she was helping other people”.
“She accepts she had a knife in her hand and she really hurt Ms Hodges, she is bitterly regretful she did that to another person,” he added.