Kylie Anne Barker sentenced over Woodberry stabbing after phone argument turned violent

It was a neighbourhood blow-up which continued via phones and text messages, only to end with one woman stabbed in the chest with a 50cm-long knife. Now, the attacker has learnt her fate.

Kylie Barker has been sentenced to a three-year intensive correction order, including 18 months to be served as home detention. Picture: Amy Ziniak

A woman who brutally stabbed a mother-of-six after a petty neighbourhood argument has escaped full-time custody, with a judge deciding the community was best served in the long-term if the attacker continued her rehabilitation for mental health and anger issues outside prison walls.

But Kylie Anne Barker will have to abide by strict home detention rules for 18 months, perform 200 hours of community service and continue a strict regimen of counselling sessions to abide by a long list of conditions placed on her.

Barker had pleaded guilty in Newcastle District Court to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and common assault in relation to the incident at Woodberry, near Maitland, on August 15, 2022.

The court had previously heard the stabbing followed a heated argument over the phone and via text about a neighbour’s conduct before the victim turned up at Barker’s Segenhoe St address.

Barker ran to the victim’s vehicle and confronted her in the middle of the road before the argument escalated with pushing and shoving between the pair.

Barker was sentenced in Newcastle District Court.

The court heard Barker then produced a 50cm-long knife, which had a 30cm serrated edge, struck the woman to the back of the head and stabbed her in the chest.

The woman was flown to hospital with a collapsed lung and a broken rib.

Kylie Barker.

“I thought in that moment, I am going to die. She wants to kill me,” the woman said in a victim impact statement she read out at a previous sentencing hearing.

Judge Roy Ellis determined a range of factors had caused him to sentence Barker to a three-year intensive correction order rather than full-time custody, despite arguments from prosecutors that Barker should be sent to jail.

The judge said the paramount concern in sentencing was the future protection of the community and sending Barker to prison would not be in society’s best interests.

He said there was evidence from practitioners that Barker’s continued rehabilitation would be better served if she stayed in the community.

However, Barker will need to abide by the 18-month home detention order or be sent straight to jail.

Judge Ellis imposed conditions that she only leave her home unless instructed by community corrections or for emergency medical appointments.

She must also continue a regimen of counselling sessions and perform the 200 hours community service.