A jealous killer who knifed a woman to death following accusations of sleeping with her partner has been caged for 10 years.
Dionne Wilson, 31, was told the slaying should weigh on her conscience for life. Wilson plunged a blade into Sara Irvine’s chest at a flat in Auchinleck Road, Aberdeen, on April 17, 2024. She received her sentence at Livingston High Court today after jurors previously acquitted her of murder but convicted her of the reduced charge of culpable homicide.
Wilson – who entered a special defence of self-defence when her trial began – admitted she had knifed Ms Irvine, 34, reports the Daily Record. She maintained she had no recollection of the precise moment she delivered the fatal strike.
(Image: Police Scotland)
Delivering his sentence at the High Court in Livingston on Tuesday, Judge Lord Mulholland condemned Wilson for abandoning her dying victim without assistance.
He said she had caused a “catastrophic” chest wound resulting in severe internal bleeding and cardiac arrest. He said: “After you stabbed her, you did not wait to help her or get help for her or check on her wellbeing.
“You got out of the flat, discarded your bloody clothing and went home and washed your hair and body and put your bloody jeggings in the washing machine. When the police eventually gained entry to the flat you pretended to them that you had been there all night with your boyfriend whose movements were curtailed as a result of a tag.”
The judge continued: “You have shown no remorse for what you did. You went to the flat which was a crack den to score drugs and, following an exchange of words, you stabbed Sara Irvine to death.
“She didn’t deserve what you did, and you will or should have this on your conscience for the rest of your life.”
He added: “Taking someone’s life is a very serious matter. You have visited a life sentence of grief and loss to her friends, partner and family and you will be punished for that.”
Claims there had been a “love triangle” between the trio were dismissed by Wilson who said Ms Irvine’s boyfriend’s assertion that he had had a sexual relationship with her was false.
Wilson – a former drug addict – said that Ms Irvine became furious and was “very hostile” to her as a result of the allegation.
She said that Ms Irvine hurled her onto a sofa at the house in Aberdeen’s Tillydrone area moments before she was knifed once in the chest on April 17, 2024.
Ms Irvine’s then boyfriend Jason King, 32, said they had gone to the house that day to buy and smoke cannabis there. The court heard that blades were scattered around the house for chopping up narcotics.
Mr King told how he witnessed Wilson plunging a knife into his girlfriend of 18 months in the chest, describing the attack as “horrible to see”.
Mr King said: “She started choking on her blood. I seen the blood coming out of her chest. I saw it coming out of her mouth. I screamed on somebody to get an ambulance. I knew she was dead. She was a dead weight in my arms.”
Wilson alleged that Mr King had told his girlfriend that he had been having sex with her. She said the other woman asked her: ‘Do you think it’s acceptable to sleep with somebody else’s man?’ and described the question as “Unfriendly. Very hostile”.
Wilson added: “She grabbed me and threw me onto the sofa. She was on top of me. I was scared and intimidated. I didn’t think I was getting out of there. I could have been seriously injured.”
She said she couldn’t say why she picked up a weapon apart from wanting to get out of the situation.
Following the jury’s guilty verdict, it emerged that Wilson had previously been convicted at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for assault with intent to rob and assault to injury.
Lord Mulholland told the accused the 10-year prison sentence to commence from April 18, 2024, when she was first remanded in custody.
He added: “Some free advice – you stay off drugs because it’s not good for you.”