A man performed a “clear act of revenge” after stabbing a woman at a flat in Blackburn – six months after she had stabbed him.

Peter Green, 45, had been in a relationship with the victim’s sister prior to her unrelated death, and there had been some disagreements between the pair relating to the death.

The victim, Deborah Grant, was in a relationship with Mark Leek, a friend of Green’s, though this had also become strained.

On Sunday, February 27, 2022, Ms Grant was at Mr Leek’s flat in Blackburn and heard him returning to the flat after he had been shopping.

She heard him talking to someone and assumed he was on the phone, but when the door opened it was apparent he was with Green.

Mark Stephenson, prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, said Green had called Mr Leek to discuss a phone contract, and asked him if he was back in a relationship with Ms Grant and that he “wanted to have a word with her.”

Peter GreenPeter Green (Image: Lancashire Police/Archive)

Green went straight into the kitchen while Ms Grant went into the living room. She then felt a blow to her back.

She was then stabbed by him, with Green saying, “what goes around comes around” before running out of the door.

Ms Grant was taken to hospital where she was treated for a two to three centimetre stab wound and was discharged the following day.

The incident occurred after what Recorder Ciaran Rankin described as a “mirror incident” six months earlier, when Ms Grant had stabbed Green.

She is due to be sentenced in September for that attack.

Green, of Cockridge Close, Blackburn, has 16 previous convictions for 24 offences, including wounding and possession of a bladed article in Blackpool as a youth, violent disorder, and battery.

Paul Humphries, in mitigation, said Green and Ms Grant have been in the same group of friends for years and “need to put this behind them.”

Mr Humphries said there was “no intent to cause really serious harm” as was reflected in Green’s guilty plea to section 20 wounding without intent to cause grievous bodily harm, rather than section 18 wounding with intent to cause GBH.

Sentencing, Recorder Rankin said: “It’s quite clear there is some history between the two of you. You have been the victim of a stabbing by her in the past.

“You went inside the flat, obtained a knife, and stabbed her saying ‘what goes around comes around'. It was a clear act of revenge.

“She suffered one wound to the chest which caused her lung to collapse.”

Green was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.