A BROMSGROVE nurse who stabbed her brother with a knife in a drunken argument over who should walk the dog has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Samantha Darnley, 25, of Stoke Turn Court, Stoke Heath, had been out drinking with her brother Bradley Darnley and gone back to their home with a friend.

She had drunk more than half a bottle of vodka and had the argument about walking the dog in the early hours of December 13 last year, Stephen Davies, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court.

She grabbed a Swiss army knife and stabbed her brother in the back, causing a one centimetre wound. He was treated in hospital.

Miss Diljit Bachada, defending, said Darnley's brother had not wanted to make a complaint. He thought his sister had just lost her temper and he didn't want to see her punished.

She added that Darnley had been going through a difficult time as she had just been made redundant from her job at a care home, when the incident happened.

Judge Robert Juckes, QC, said he accepted she had acted out of character and she was known as a good professional nurse. But, he said, as soon as knives are involved, there is a serious risk and the offence crossed the custody threshold.

Darnley pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. She was given a nine month sentence suspended for 18 months with supervision. She will also have to spend three months on an electronically tagged curfew, between 7pm and 7am, and was ordered to pay a total of £675 costs.