Rebecca Kennedy with partner Gary Goodall Picture Ref: 76332-39A TEENAGE girl who pointed a knife at a pregnant woman and threatened to stab her unborn baby has escaped a prison sentence.

The girl from Nythe, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a 24-hour attendance centre order by Swindon Youth Court after pleading guilty to affray.

The victim Rebecca Kennedy, 18, is disgusted with the sentence and says she nearly lost her child as a result of the stress caused by the attack.

The court heard how the teenager pulled an eight-inch blade on seven-month pregnant Ms Kennedy outside St Ives Court in Nythe and told her she would stab her and the baby.

Prosecutor Frank Murphy said the attacker had stood three feet away from the victim and held the knife out towards Ms Kennedy's stomach.

The girl was arrested after the incident on March 2 and admitted to police that she threatened to stab Ms Kennedy and the baby.

Mr Murphy said: "Ms Kennedy believed at the time that she would carry out the threat."

The court also heard that the teenager had a number of previous convictions, the last one dating back to December 2003.

But Michela Rose, defending, said the girl had a troubled past.

She had left school at 15 and moved to Wales with a 21-year-old man who she met on the internet in January last year.

But their relationship failed when she got pregnant. Her father would not let her return to the family home in April 2004 and she was forced to live alone in council accommodation.

Ms Rose said that the girl had deeply regretted her actions towards Ms Kennedy.

"For some unknown reasons she found it difficult to understand herself why these actions did take place." she said.

"She does accept that Rebecca would have been absolutely petrified by what she did.

"After the offence she was absolutely distraught by her actions. She has been extremely remorseful from the outset of this offence.

"She has never from the beginning tried to deny it. It scares her that she did it but she is absolutely adamant that she never had any intention to carrying out the threat."

Speaking after the hearing Ms Kennedy, who with her partner Gary Goodhall, 26, also has a one- year-old daughter, said that she was so distressed by the ordeal she nearly lost her baby. And she said the sentence was not tough enough.

"I nearly lost my child because the stress of it all," she said.

"I had to go to hospital with internal bleeding. It was a terrible time.

"It makes you feel sick to be honest that she can get away with this. I think she should have got something that would have made her learn her lesson. I don't think this will make a difference to her."

When the youth appeared in court at an earlier hearing last month, magistrates warned her that prison was an option.

The chairwoman of the bench Susan Wolfe-Barry this week ordered the girl to carry out 24 hours at an attendance centre to address her anger. The sentence will not be served at once but will be completed when she has done a total of 24 hours at the centre.

No order for costs or compensation was made.