Gemma Cole attacked Christopher MacFarlane with a large kitchen knife on Cardross Road, Dumbarton in November of last year while he was waiting on a bus.

Last week, she appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to striking Mr MacFarlane with a knife to his injury and possessing an offensive weapon without excuse or lawful authority.

Fiscal depute Malcolm Macleod told the court that on November 17 at about 11.50am, Mr MacFarlane had been standing at the bus stop when Cole arrived and stood behind him.

Nothing was said between the pair, and shortly afterwards Mr MacFarlane felt two blows hit him in his left hip.

He realised he had been stabbed and saw Cole walk away in the direction of Dumbarton town centre before phoning an ambulance — he was later taken to hospital where he received two stiches to a puncture wound and was kept in overnight.

A cyclist witnessed Cole hiding the knife down her trousers and Mr MacFarlane bleeding and alerted the police.

Officers arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and caught up with Cole and detained and searched her, finding the weapon which had a blade measuring 7.5 inches.

Cole said to them: “I just stabbed a guy, I want to kill somebody and be a murderer, I’m on my way to Dumbarton to kill someone.” She was then taken to Clydebank Police Office where she was asked if she would like to say anything and replied, “I want to kill people”.

A doctor at the police office decided Cole was not fit for interview so she was taken to Accident and Emergency at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.

She was then assessed by a community psychiatric nurse back at Clydebank Police Office who said she was not displaying any psychotic tendencies or suicidal intent and was rational, coherent and showing remorse over her actions.

Mr Hughes, defending, said his client had accepted a custodial sentence was inevitable.

He stressed his client claimed to hear voices and this could be the only reason she could have attacked Mr MacFarlane.

However, Mr Hughes said Cole had never been diagnosed with mental health issues but instead had a kind of personality disorder.

Mr Hughes argued his client had a chaotic, unstructured lifestyle with very little family support having spent much of her adult life living in homeless accommodation.

He conceded there was not much that could be said in mitigation of Cole’s offence but asked the court to take into account her relatively early guilty plea and her remorse and empathy towards her victim.

However, Sheriff Kelly, sentencing Cole to two years behind bars and a year’s supervised release, took into account the accused’s early plea but said a custodial sentence was the only option available in light of the “terrifying” nature of her crime.