Woman who attacked schoolgirls with candlestick and hammer is jailed

A woman has been jailed for seven years for attacking a schoolgirls over ten years with weapons including a candlestick, hammer, clingfilm and screwdriver.

Aneliese Buchanan, 39, was arrested after one of the teenagers was rushed to hospital with a head injury, claiming she had been hit with a candlestick.

A second victim, also under 18, claimed she had been attacked by Buchanan with a roll of clingfilm, a hammer and then a screwdriver. 

Buchanan was convicted by a jury in April of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and assault against one victim and assault against the second.

Prosecutor Heath Edwards said of the first victim: 'She attended the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran with a wound to the top of her head.

'It was a wound that she blamed the defendant for causing after hitting her on the head with a candlestick.'

The court was told that the open head wound to the girl under 18 had to be sutured.

On the second victim, Mr Edwards said: 'She said the defendant strangled her with a roll of cling film, hit her with a hammer, stabbed her with a screwdriver and jumped on her head when she was on the floor.'

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Judge Shomon Khan told Buchanan that she 'lost all sense of control and proportion' during the attack triggered by 'something mundane.'

He said that she struck her victim with the candlestick 'with force' to her ankle and head.

Buchanan was convicted in April of grievous bodily harm, assault, and perverting the course of justice for trying to persuade one of the victims to drop the charges against her.

He added: 'It's clear to me given this conviction and previous conviction that you lie.'

The court heard she was previously jailed for making false claims she had been sexually assaulted in a nightclub - leading to an innocent man being arrested and held in a cell for 14 hours.

Judge Shomon Khan previously told Buchanan: 'Because of the nature of the convictions it's going to be an immediate sentence of imprisonment.

'There can be little question about that.'

Emma Harris, defending, said Buchanan had found custody 'difficult' due to medical conditions and still 'maintains her innocence.'

Sentencing her at Newport Crown Court today, Judge Khan said that her severe health issues 'didn't stop you offending' and 'this was the use of serious violence with the utmost cruelty.'

'You are still denying the offences,' he added, and told her that she is 'very much in denial.'

He also addressed the victims' personal impact statements, saying that they make 'powerful reading.'

Buchanan, of Newport, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and ordered to pay a £120 surcharge. The girls cannot be named to protect their identity.

A property destruction order on the candlestick was also imposed.