A privately educated woman has avoided jail despite what a judge called a "serious" case of domestic violence, after she attacked her ex-partner with a knife, a saucepan and a pole, leaving him with fractured vertebrae after he jumped from a window to escape. Shannon Galligan, 28, a former pupil of the £25,000-a-year Norwich School, assaulted Ashley Compton at her shared accommodation in Norwich shortly before Christmas 2024, just after their long relationship ended. The case highlights ongoing debate about sentencing consistency in domestic abuse cases, particularly where mitigating factors such as neurodivergence are considered.

Norwich Crown Court heard that Galligan struck Mr Compton with a saucepan, wedged a knife into a door, strangled him and stabbed him in the arm before he fled down the stairs, was hit with a pole, and jumped from a ground-floor window, sustaining fractured vertebrae and bruising. She admitted unlawful wounding, intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage, with the prosecution accepting the lesser wounding charge over the original wounding with intent. Judge Bate handed her a two-year suspended sentence, citing her ADHD and good prospects for rehabilitation, alongside 180 hours of unpaid work, up to 20 days of rehabilitation activity, and a four-year restraining order.