A SELF-harmer stabbed her partner in the armpit as he tried to wrestle a blade from her, a court heard.

Alcoholic Melissa Gibson will learn her fate later this month, after Swindon magistrates remanded her into custody. She pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

JPs were told Gibson had asked the man to buy her cider from a nearby Tesco to tide her over until the following day.

When he returned home she was in the kitchen arguing with her mother on the phone. Once off the phone, an argument started about the man’s ex – with 26-year-old Gibson calling the woman and screaming down the telephone.

Prosecuting, Kate Prince said Gibson had turned on her partner, grabbing him by the hair and dragging him into the hallway leading from the kitchen to the hallway. She was said to have lain on the floor apparently mocking the fact her boyfriend suffered from a bad back.

Gibson called the man names, saying she “didn’t need anyone in the world”. She picked up a knife from the kitchen drawer and stabbed herself in the torso.

“He approached her, grabbed both her hands and raised then over her head to protect him and herself,” Ms Prince said. The handle of the knife dropped to the floor in the ferocity of the attack, but she kept hold of the blade.

She swung her around round, catching her partner just under the armpit. Pictures presented to the court showed an angry red mark on the man’s side.

He fled to a neighbour’s home and raised the alarm. Police called to the property found a number of items had been damaged, including the man’s clothing which showed signs of having been cut.

Gibson, who gave her address as Hawthorn Avenue, pleaded guilty to ABH and criminal damage.

Defending, Tony Nowogrodzki said his client suffered with a number of mental health issues, including depression and borderline personality disorder.

Addressing the attack, Mr Nowogrodzki said: “She said there was potentially a flailing around of arms and she must have caught him.”

Gibson, who had to be taken from the dock and the case proceeded with in her absence after she began screaming at the court, was remanded in custody.

She will next appear before Swindon Magistrates’ Court on September 26. Magistrates ordered pre-sentence reports.