A woman with mental health difficulties who was involved in a terrifying incident at a friend’s flat last year has been jailed for 18 months.

Caitlin Sheppard, who has previous convictions for violence, had been at the address in June when she suddenly bit one of the two men as they were playing on an Xbox.

Prosecutor Ayman Khokhar told Bradford Crown Court that there appeared to have been a deterioration in the 22-year-old’s mental health in the weeks before the incident and after biting the man in the rib area she left the flat.

Soon after she returned saying she had stabbed herself in the leg and the two men attempted to assist her.

Mr Khokhar said Sheppard screamed at the men that she wanted to die and felt worthless before running into the kitchen and picking up two knives.

As one man tried to take the knives from her Sheppard stabbed him in the leg and then grabbed his neck with both hands and strangled him.

Mr Khokhar said the man could not breathe, but when his friend told Sheppard to let go she did.

Sheppard, of Parkwood Rise, Keighley, initially faced a charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm over the stabbing, but her guilty plea to assault occasioning actual bodily harm was accepted by the prosecution.

She also admitted an offence of intentional strangulation and common assault.

On Wednesday, Judge Colin Burn said he had to sentence her for a terrifying incident although he appreciated she wasn’t in a very good place at the time with regards to her mental health.

“The problem is that as a result of that, as well as hurting yourself, you caused some quite significant injuries and also some significant terror,” the judge told Sheppard.

Sheppard took part in the proceedings via a video link to New Hall prison where she has been remanded in custody since last June.

Judge Burn said being stabbed in the leg would have been very shocking for her victim.

He said the court also had to deal with strangulation very seriously because the complainant would not have known when their inability to breathe would come to an end.

Barrister Celine Kart, for Sheppard, said her client had been out of trouble for two years and she did want to be rehabilitated.

Judge Burn explained that because of the time Sheppard had been on remand she would only be in custody for about another 10 weeks and he hoped she would be able to engage with the mental health support services on her release.

The judge said Sheppard would have to comply with two 10-year restraining orders which banned her from having any contact with the two complainants in the case.