Woman jailed for stabbing friend’s ex-girlfriend in the stomach

A woman was lured to a house in a village near Ashby by her ex-boyfriend before being stabbed in the stomach by his friend. The victim went to the door and her ex, Lewis Beckford, was there with Shontae Duporte.

Beckford told Duporte, “Do it.” Duporte then attacked the woman with a knife. Leicester Crown Court heard on Friday, May 31, that there was no known motive for the attack, which happened at around 8.30pm on February 23, 2023.

The court heard that Beckford had been in a relationship “for some time” with the victim, but that he began having “some sort of relationship” with the victim’s housemate. The court heard the victim “wasn’t happy about it” and the housemate moved out of the victim’s flat after an incident involving “screaming and shouting”.

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On the day of the stabbing, the two defendants were at an address in Measham and the victim attended while the former colleague sat outside in a car at the time of the attack, having driven Beckford to the address.

Judge Keith Raynor said the victim suffered “significant bowel injury” which required emergency surgery and resulted in a week’s stay in hospital. But then an infection set in and the woman, who was left with a 12-inch scar across her stomach, had to return for a second emergency operation.

The judge said: “He couldn’t sleep, just reliving the day of the incident. She feels mentally tortured. She has a three-year-old son and feels worried about him.”

The court heard Duporte admitted at a probation service hearing that he sometimes carried a knife for protection. She claimed she was just using the knife when the victim arrived at the house, but when asked by the probation officer what she was using it for, she did not answer.

Duporte was jailed in March 2021 for trafficking cocaine and heroin, sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders institution.

Both Beckford, 24, of Hawthorn Close, Measham, and Duporte, 23, of Colwick Road, Nottingham, pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent. The trial began, but both pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of wounding on the fourth day of the trial.

Stefan Kolodynski, Duporte’s representative, said: “He is unlikely to have any further brushes with the law in terms of violence. She’s still only 23 and this is her first violent crime.”

Paul Prior, representing Beckford, said his client had no idea Duporte had a knife and that when he told him to “do it” he did not think the injuries would be so serious. He added that Beckford spent two weeks at HMP Leicester after the incident, which “seemed like six months” and motivated Beckford, who has since become a father and started his own business, to change his ways.

He said: “This defendant was immature – particularly at the time of the offence. The taste of custody had a profound effect on him and is the driving force behind his change in attitude and behavior – he went ahead and did. something with his life.

“He told me that his time at Welford Road ‘scared the life out of me’.

His client has previous convictions for violent assault and, at the time of the Measham incident, was subject to two suspended orders for two convictions for dealing in cannabis. Following the activation of suspended sentences, he received a longer prison term than his co-defendant.

Judge Raynor jailed Duporte for three years and one month and jailed Beckford for three years and 10 months. Both will have time deducted for their time in custody and overnight stay and will each have to pay a victim surcharge of £228 on release.