Sammi Kate Kendrick, 28, spared jail for stabbing stepfather in fight over dog custody

A young mother has learned her future, and taken on some advice from the judge, after she stabbed her stepfather in the back after a fight over a pet dog.

A young meth-using mum who stabbed her stepfather in the back, puncturing his lung, has been spared jail, and told by a judge she needs to seek professional help for her violent outbursts.

Mother of three Sammi Kate Kendrick breathed a sigh of relief in the dock of the South Australian District Court on Thursday afternoon as Judge Liesl Kudelka said she wouldn’t be going to jail for her offending.

Kendrick, now 28, pleaded guilty to aggravated causing harm with intent after stabbing her stepfather in 2021 – a charge laid shortly after SA Police released vision of her stealing a $38,000 mobility scooter.

In sentencing on Thursday, the court heard an altercation between Kendrick and her stepfather broke out after she asked him for custody of her dog back on September 11, 2021.

Sammi Kendrick is wanted by police for allegedly stabbing her stepfather. Picture: Facebook

Sammi Kendrick is wanted by police for allegedly stabbing her stepfather. Picture: Facebook

“You asked for the dog back. He refused. That made you angry, abusive and then violent. You tried to punch him with both hands, but he took a hold of both of your wrists and held them in the air,” Judge Kudelka said.

“You walked out of the lounge room towards the kitchen and said you were going to get a knife to stab him. You returned to the lounge room with two knives. You said you wanted your dog. He blocked your swing at him, but then you swung at him again and stabbed him with a knife in the upper left back near his armpit. He yelled out that you had stabbed him.”

In September 2021, a warrant was issued for her arrest over allegations she stabbed a man in the back at Camden Park.

Police alleged Kendrick was responsible for injuries sustained by her stepfather, Terrence Kerslake, of Mount Gambier.

She was arrested three weeks later after police asked the public for help in locating her.

Sammi Kendrick leaving court. Picture: Isabel McMillan

Judge Kudelka said that Kendrick had experienced significant trauma throughout her life, and had turned to drugs as a coping mechanism.

She said Kendrick had been seeking help from a therapist, and engaging with corrections while living on bail in the community.

She sentenced Kendrick to two years, one month and 20 days in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and two months.

Judge Kudelka however suspended the sentence, upon Kendrick entering into a three-year good behaviour bond.

“True it is that you have not yet fully dealt with your use of illicit drugs, but at the same time, I think the trauma that underlies that use needs the intervention of professionals,” she said.

“In my view, the best way to protect the safety of the community from further violent outbursts from you is to make sure that you get the professional help that you need to deal with the trauma that you have experienced in the past.”