Mentally ill woman avoids jail after holding knife to mother’s throat

A mentally ill woman has been given a suspended sentence for holding a knife to her mother’s throat in a fit of jealousy after she found out her successful sister was coming home from Canada.

Carol Sanders, aged 50, formerly of Ralahine, Ballybrack, Co Dublin, told her mother “you have to die” during the attack at the home they shared in Ballybrack on November 24, 2015.

Sanders, an alcoholic who suffers from a personality disorder, pleaded guilty to producing a weapon in a manner likely to intimidate her mother, Mary Sanders. Two other charges of producing a weapon and an assault charge were taken into account by the court.