AN AMBULANCE worker who sent a chilling text to her friend after she tried to kill her boss in a “frenzied” hammer attack has been jailed.
Stacey Smith, from Ascot Street on Tameside, attacked Michala Morton, a North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) patient transport service boss, before admitting in a cruel text to her friend.
Michala Morton was left with serious head injuries and a broken wrist[/caption]
The 46-year-old lay in wait outside her boss’s house before repeatedly striking her with the hammer over the head.
Police revealed that Michala suffered a broken wrist while attempting to defend herself from what officers have described as an “unprovoked and frenzied” attack.
Smith was screaming that she would kill her and sent a disturbing text to her friend after fleeing the scene, which read: “I’ve done it. I’ve smashed her head in. Oopsie (sic) xx!”
The former ambulance worker appeared in front of Manchester Crown Court, where it was revealed that the pair had been working together for six years prior to the attack.
Michala had been in charge of several workers, including Smith and her wife.
However, the relationship between the two deteriorated during the pandemic as ambulance workers were forced to adopt shift patterns to meet the demands of the health emergency in the UK.
Smith’s resentment towards Michala intensified after discovering that she couldn’t follow the same shift patterns as her wife, according to prosecutor Hayley Bennett.
The court heard that the dispute over the shift pattern continued for several months and culminated when Smith and her wife were unable to attend a patient’s funeral.
This led the would-be-attacker to unleash a barrage of abusive comments on Michala’s Facebook.
The ambulance worker also said that she would “never let this go.”
I detect very little remorse
Judge
This led Michala to report Smith to NWAS and request that she and her wife be removed from her team.
However, the boss’s request was denied but the pair were kept separate due to an ongoing investigation, the court heard.
Questions regarding Smith’s mental health also emerged after she and her wife were absent from work for around six months.
The 46-year-old’s wife would later express that “she could not cope” working with Michala and threatened to take her own life.
Smith subsequently filed a complaint against her boss, claiming that she and her wife were being “targeted” by her.
Despite filing the complaint, the ambulance worker chose to take matters into her own hands and showed up outside Michala’s house with a hammer days before she was set to be interviewed by HR staff.
Smith inflicted horrific injuries on her boss, fracturing her skull with a hammer and repeatedly calling her a “b****” during the attack.
SENTENCING
After the assault, the ambulance worker intended to “go on the run,” but friends persuaded her to turn herself into authorities.
Smith has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading not guilty to attempted murder, and she must serve two-thirds of her sentence before being eligible for parole.
The 46-year-old was also issued a whole-life order, preventing her from ever contacting Michala again.
The judge added: “I detect very little remorse.”
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Stephen McNee of GMP’s Tameside Criminal Investigation Department said: “We are pleased with today’s result, which has seen a violent woman taken off the streets and we hope that this goes some way to helping the victim to come to terms with what has happened to her and allows her to heal.”
A North West Ambulance Service spokesperson added: “The last year has been incredibly difficult for her, and we hope this will mark a milestone in her ongoing recovery.”
