A 37-YEAR-OLD woman who lunged at a man with a kitchen knife has been found guilty of grave and criminal assault.
Nilza Vieira had told the Royal Court that she only wanted to stop the man filming her on his mobile phone, and that the knife wound he sustained to his right leg was an accident.
But after just over three hours of deliberating, the jury of six men and six women at her Assize trial found her guilty by 11 to one.
The victim had spoken in Vieira’s defence, saying he believed she had not meant to harm him in the attack on 25 November last year, and only intended to frighten him.
He added that he did not even notice the wound to his right thigh until afterwards.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, told the jury that the offence was “a clear and obvious grave and criminal assault”.
She said that the man’s recording showed Vieira had aimed the knife towards his body and did not appear to be trying to knock the phone from his hands.
Vieira was due to receive the date of her sentencing on Friday.
Commissioner Alan Binnington was presiding.
