A WOMAN who slashed a good samaritan bus passenger just weeks after being involved in another knife incident has been jailed for nine months.

Emily Jones used a Stanley knife to cut the chest of her victim, Paul McKinlay, after he confronted a troublemaker as the vehicle went along Rodbourne Road.

A court heard the victim initially thought the 21-year-old woman was going to thank him.

But the man he had confronted was her boyfriend, and instead she produced the blade and lashed out at him.

Mr McKinlay did not report the incident to the police and was only tracked down after seeing his picture in the Advertiser after officers launched a press appeal.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how the incident took place shortly before 11pm on Friday, March 14.

Aa man on the bus had been “shouting the odds at various passengers”.

“Mr McKinlay intervened, several other passengers also intervened, including an elderly man. He told him to desist, to stop what he was doing.” When the bus stopped, the two men got off and there was an altercation in the street. Jones joined them on the street and when the victim got back on the bus she did too.

“Without warning she made a slashing movement to his stomach, a quick rapid jerk. She didn’t say anything and then ran off the bus.”

Mr McKinlay’s shirt and the lapel of his jacket were ripped and he bled from a scratch across his chest.

Passengers reported the attack, which was also caught on the bus CCTV.

“He contacted police after he saw a piece in the Swindon Advertiser appealing for information and a picture of himself on the bus,” she said.

When the defendant was arrested she confessed, saying she was angry after the altercation with her boyfriend.

Jones, of Godolphin Close, Freshbrook, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and having a bladed article.

The court heard that she was on a suspended sentence, imposed after the offence, for having a nine-inch hunting knife in public and possessing a wrap of cocaine.

Rob Ross, defending, said his client was out of control at the time of the offences with drink and drug problems, as well as mental health issues.

Since her remand in custody three months ago she had managed to get help for her problems.

He said: “She has taken the three months in custody not as punishment but as an opportunity to use every agency she possibly can for change.”

Judge Peter Blair QC said he was imposing a jail term, allowing her release late next month when the terms of the other suspended sentence would still be in force.

He said: “I have a duty to protect the public from what was a serious incident. The public duty requires this behaviour to be reflected in a prison sentence.”