Stella Gollovena Charged Over 4 London Stabbings Near Covent Garden

Q: Why is a woman facing severe grievous bodily harm charges after attacking four men with scissors, despite no life-threatening injuries?

She is facing the more serious charge because, under English law, the severity of the charge depends not only on how badly the victims ended up hurt, but on the nature of the attack and the intent the prosecution says it can prove. Police say four men suffered stab wounds, reportedly from scissors. In England and Wales, a “wound” usually means any injury that breaks the skin. That can support a charge under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 if prosecutors believe the attacker intended to cause grievous bodily harm, meaning really serious harm. The law does not require the injuries actually to become life-threatening or life-changing for that charge to be brought. What matters is the alleged intention at the time. Prosecutors may point to the repeated use of a sharp weapon against four separate people in a public place as evidence of intent to cause serious injury. The fact that the victims were discharged from hospital may affect how the case is viewed later by the court, but it does not prevent a section 18 charge at the outset. The scissors allegation also explains the separate count of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. Even an ordinary item can be treated as an offensive weapon if it is allegedly used to injure someone. The charge is therefore legally about the combination of stabbing injuries, alleged intent, and the public-weapon element, rather than the fortunate fact that none of the men suffered permanent or fatal harm.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 6

Four men aged 34, 39, 42 and 56 were stabbed on Endell Street near Covent Garden at about 12:30 BST on Wednesday; all were taken to hospital and have since been discharged.
Stella Gollovena, 47, of no fixed address, was charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Police arrested Gollovena at the scene after officers were called to the central London street, where London's Air Ambulance also landed at Trafalgar Square.
Highbury Magistrates' Court is due to hear the case later, with police saying the victims' injuries were not life-threatening or life-changing.