A woman has denied a charge of wounding with intent arising from the alleged stabbing of a man in the back, in Durham city centre, last month.

But the accused, Zoe Jurj, has admitted unlawful possession of a bladed article in public, a knife, during the incident, in Silver Street, on August 5.

Appearing at a plea hearing at Durham Crown Court, the 43-year-old defendant, of Grape Lane, Crossgate, in the city, initially denied both charges put to her.

But, after she was permitted to have a further conference with her counsel, Ian Mullarkey, Jurj maintained her denial to unlawfully and maliciously wounding the male complainant with intent, but changed her plea to guilty on the knife-carrying count.

Read more: Woman in court after alleged Durham stabbing incident

The case was adjourned for a trial to take place at the court, starting on Wednesday February 21.

The Northern Echo: Woman, 43, facing trial after denying wounding a man with intent in an alleged stabbing, in Silver

Following the alleged incident, in mid-afternoon on a Saturday, the complainant, in his mid-30s, was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, for treatment.

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But his injuries were not said to have been life-threatening.

Reassuring the wider public, police, at the time, described it as what appeared to have been an “isolated incident”, involving two people who were said to have known each other.