A Judge has cancelled the prison sentence of a knife wielding woman so she can return to her studies in Ireland.
Kelsey O'Grady had received an eight month sentence for taking a knife to a skate park in Torrington but was released immediately because she had already served the time while on remand.
The case was brought back in front of Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court because O'Grady had been stopped from returning home to Ireland because she was technically still on prison licence.
Judge Wassall replaced her jail sentence with a conditional discharge and said it was his intention she should be able to return to her family in Tralee, Eire, immediately.
O'Grady was initially arrested in 2012 for the incident at the skate park which ended in her abusive boyfriend James Clarke suffering a stab wound.
She returned to her home in Ireland after being bailed but was arrested when she came on a short trip to England in September and has been in jail ever since.
Judge Wassall ordered her immediate release after seeing references which showed that in the intervening years she has gone back to school and college and has been doing well with her studies.
He said:"I am re-visiting this sentence because it had been my intention for her to be released immediately and able to return home. She has mnore than served the appropriate time for this offence.
"Her intention is to return to Ireland to continue her studies. She had gone off the rails and this is the best way of getting her back on them.
"When I passed the sentence I did not realise that the conditions of her licence would have frustrated the point of the sentence, which was that she should return to Ireland immediately."
When the case was heard earlier this week the Judge heard how O'Grady moved to Devon when she was just 16 because of a relationship with Kieran Jones which turned sour within weeks.
She armed herself with a knife during a violent confrontation at the skate park next to his home in Torrington which ended in him receiving a stab wound.
O'Grady, of Tralee, Ireland, admitted having a knife in a public place. She denied a more serious charge of wounding, which was dropped after 22-year-old Mr Jones told police he had no intention of giving evidence.
Jones himself was jailed last month for an incident in South Molton in which he took a dinner knife from a café during a confrontation with a man he thought had been seeing his girlfriend.
O'Grady moved to Torrington to be with him in 2012 but returned to Ireland after the incident at the skate park in May and was arrested on her return to Britain last year.
Mr Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said Jones has told the officer in the case he had no intention of coming to court or supporting the prosecution. Others who were at the skate park are now abroad.
He said the offence happened when O'Grady was in a relationship with Jones and they were both staying with his aunt in Torrington, very close to the skate park at Calf Street.
He said:"They were both at the skate park when an argument developed and she punched him a couple of times. His response was to laugh. She stormed off, pushing a young girl out of the way as she went.
"She returned with a knife which was seen by other members of the public at the skate park."
Mr Nigel Wraith, defending, said O'Grady had excellent references from her old school and friends in Ireland which showed she had thrown away a bright future to move to Devon when she was just 16.
He said:"She has been in custody since September, which is the equivalent of a nine month sentence. She started a relationship with Jones when she was 12 or 13 and when she was just 16 he invited her to Devon.
"He promised her a good life in England but she found the reality was far from that. He was not a good choice of partner and has recently been sent to jail for other offences.
"At the time she was sofa surfing and wanted to return to Ireland. She was 16 and had no money and that was the cause of the argument that led to this incident."
