A young mother 'obsessed with murder and male sacrifice' who stabbed her on-off boyfriend five times with a kitchen knife while dressed in clown make-up has been jailed for 11-and-a-half years.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Zoe Adams, 19, put a pillow over Kieran Bewick's head 'to make sex kinkier' only to stab him with a 10-inch blade.

She admitted stabbing Mr Bewick and causing him grievous bodily harm but told a trial of issue she had no memory of the stabbing and claimed it was an 'overreaction' after the teenager 'started kissing her against her will'.

The case came to court because of the vast differences between Adams' and Mr Bewick's accounts of the incident but Judge James Adkin decided the victim was telling the truth.

He branded her 'cruel and sadistic' while the court also heard disturbing images were found on her iPhone including one of a blood-covered woman with the caption: 'Murder is like a bag of chips: you can't stop after just one.'

Zoe Adams, 19, pictured, admitted stabbing on-off boyfriend Kieran Bewick, 18, right, but told a court she had 'no memory' of the incident. She was jailed for 11-and-a-half years

The judge said Adams planned the attack by taking both a knife and duct tape to the bedroom.

He told a weeping Adams: 'You had decided to cause serious harm to Mr Bewick during sex.'

The judge added: 'I am sure that by that time you had already become dishinhibited by drink and drugs and the more sadistic side of your personality had come to dominate.'

In his victim impact statement, Mr Bewick said he had struggled to sleep since the attack, which left him with a collapsed lung and pneumonia.

He said: 'I struggle with the knowledge that someone I genuinely cared about would do this to me.

'Just after I got out of hospital, this thought played on my mind a lot.

'But having had time to think about it, I am convinced that she planned it. It wasn't personal. She was going to do it to someone and it just happened to be me.

'Strangely, that makes it easier to deal with.'

He said he would be 'scarred mentally and emotionally for the rest of his life', adding: 'I have always had a fear of clowns and Zoe knew this. This will now only increase my fear of clowns.'

Speaking after the sentence Cumbria Police Detective Constable Calvin Greaves said: 'Any assault with a knife has the potential for fatal consequences. In this instance, the young victim of this callous and violent attack has been very fortunate to escape with his life.

'Adams told officers she blacked out and had no memory of the attack. Her 17-year-old victim is not so fortunate. He will have to live with the physical and mental scars of Adams' actions for the rest of his life.

'He has shown great courage throughout the investigation, not least in giving detectives a statement regarding the attack whilst only hours into his recovery.'

Adams, pictured, had told Carlisle Crown Court Mr Bewick started kissing her against her will and she 'overreacted' but did not recall the moment she physically attacked him

Other messages found on Adams' phone included one stating 'I don't think about males unless said male is strapped up and being used as a human sacrifice - you should be grateful you are not part of it'.

Adams had previously told the court she dressed up in the clown makeup for 'a bit of fun' and was not interested in sex with Mr Bewick.

Defence barrister Dan Travers said Adams had told a probation officer the make-up was supposed to make Mr Bewick laugh.

She said: 'It was just a bit of fun, not to genuinely frighten him. It was the sort of silly thing we would do with each other.'

Adams told the court she got into bed next to Mr Bewick and they cuddled.

Police also found disturbing images on Adams' phone including a picture of a blood-covered woman with the caption 'murder is like a bag of chips, you can't stop at just one'

She added: 'He started to kiss me neck. I told him to pack it in, or words to that effect.'

He then touched her shoulder but she panicked, she told the court.

Mr Travers asked: 'What's the next thing you remember?' Adams replied: 'Not being on the bed any more; and him asking me what had I done.'

She had no memory of stabbing Mr Bewick. Nor could she recall putting the knife in the kitchen sink.

Cross-examined by prosecutor Mr Wyn Jones, she said: 'I don't remember holding the knife - or using it.'

She said she only vaguely remembered going down the stairs.

The court heard Mr Bewick had told her that a barefoot clown was his worst nightmare in a text message.

Prosecutor Robert Wyn Jones then read aloud the defendant's text message to Mr Bewick, when she said: 'I don't think about males unless said male is strapped up and being used as a human sacrifice - you should be grateful you are not part of it,' although Adams claimed this was a 'joke'.

Adams admitted drinking vodka and smoking cannabis before the attack and said she had no memory of the stabbing at her home in Wigton, Cumbria, last July.

She said she panicked when Mr Bewick - someone she classed as a good friend - kissed her.

Adams, pictured, dressed up as a clown and cuddled Mr Bewick in bed, claiming her appearance was a 'joke' because the teenager was afraid of clowns

Adams told the court her next memory was of him standing before her, seriously injured, and asking why she stabbed him.

Mr Travers asked why she admitted intentionally causing Mr Bewick grievous bodily harm.

'I did stab him - but I overreacted,' she replied.

The barrister asked how she felt about what she'd done.

'I can't really believe it,' she said. 'I considered him to be one of my best friends. I just can't believe I've hurt him.'

Earlier they court heard how she told her victim, then aged 17: 'Trust me', before stabbing him five times in the chest.

Mr Bewick, now 18, said Adams used the knife after asking him to put a pillow over his face before having sex.

He added she had brought duct tape to the bedroom because she wanted to tie him and the pillow was a compromise because he refused.

The 19-year-old faced a trial of issue to decide her sentence based on how dangerous a judge considers her to be

Mr Bewick suffered what Judge James Adkin said were life-threatening injuries - two stab wounds to his chest, as well as cuts to an arm, a leg, and his hand.

Giving her account, Adams said she and Mr Bewick were friends, and she allowed him to stay with her when he left home.

They shared an interest in writing, and he had published his own dark fantasy novel, called Ascendence.

She also claimed they had sex a month before the stabbing, but she regretted it.

Adams said: 'We should not have crossed that line,' and added she made it clear it would not happen again.

Mr Travers asked Adams, who was being treated for depression, about her attitude towards sex and she told the court it gave her panic attacks.

Adams denied wanting to tie up Mr Bewick and said she had no idea why police found a record on her phone of a search about the sentence for attempted murder - the charge she originally faced.

Mr Travers then quizzed Adams about 14 gruesome images police found on her iPhone.

One had the caption: 'Almost twice as many serial killers are born in November than in any other month.'

Adams said: 'It was a tasteless joke,' adding that she had a relative born in that month.

She agreed that other images found on her phone were inappropriate and admitted she and Mr Bewick were members of a Facebook group called Murder Files for Curious [People].'

Adams also denied having any interest in sexual violence and said she kept a knife under her bed for 'protection' because she lived alone.

The case continues.