A woman who admitted unlawful wounding, after denying a charge of murder, has been given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Kathleen Bernadette McNeil, 62, of Shore Road in Peel, appeared before Deemster Montgomerie at a Court of General Gaol.

Evidence showed the defendant travelled to the home of her ex-husband, Keith John McQuillian, in Kirk Michael last December, after calling police and telling them she was going to kill him.

Rachel Braidwood, prosecuting, said the couple had divorced in 1980. They had two daughters, but one of them drowned in 1993.

At 9.30pm on December 27 last year, the defendant called emergency services to tell them she had been assaulted by her ex-husband and if they didn't hurry up she was going to stab him to death.

Mr McQuillan said he had been surprised when his ex-wife had turned up and said she wanted to 'talk about the kids'. Once inside she had become abusive and when he said he would call police she had produced a knife from her bag. He managed to get it off her, but not before he received injuries to his chest and hand.

The court heard McNeil had drunk a bottle of simple cough linctus, which contained alcohol, on the day of the incident, and along with other medication she was taking this could have affected her state of mind. Advocate Jason Stanley said she was a woman of previous good character and was now seeking help for 'certain conditions' she had.

Deemster Montgomerie said he was giving her full credit for her immediate guilty plea in relation to the unlawful wounding charge, and imposed a two-year supervision order to run alongside the suspended sentence.