Ambulance worker had a row with her manager over shift patterns - what she did next terrified everyone

An ambulance worker who subjected her boss to a ‘frenzied’ hammer attack has been found guilty of attempted murder.

Stacey Smith turned up outside Michala Morton’s home early in the morning armed with the weapon. She hit her on the head, arms, legs and torso during the horror incident, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Smith, 46, had built up an increasing resentment and hatred for Morton, her manager at the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). She blamed Ms Morton after she had been unable to secure changes to shift patterns which she and her wife, also an ambulance worker, had sought.

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Smith was lying in wait for Ms Morton one morning as she left her home for work. Ms Morton was hit to the head as Smith ‘screamed that she was going to kill her’. She suffered a fractured wrist while being hit as she raised her arm to protect herself.

After the pair grappled and Ms Morton tried to wrestle the hammer from her, Smith walked away, dropped it and left in her car. Ms Morton screamed out for help and was rushed to hospital.

Smith, from Newton Heath, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but denied attempted murder. After a trial, a jury unanimously found her guilty. She showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered.

Judge Hilary Manley told Smith: "You have been convicted by this jury of attempted murder. There can only be one sentence, that will be a lengthy sentence of immediate imprisonment."

Prosecuting, Hayley Bennett told the trial that the attack came after Smith had harboured ‘resentment and hatred’ towards Ms Morton, an operations manager for NWAS.

Ms Morton began to manage Ms Smith, an ambulance care assistant, in 2017. She also managed Ms Smith’s wife, another NWAS worker.

Ms Bennett said: “On first impression, Ms Morton found Ms Smith to be a pleasant person, and even a potential friend. Their relationship deteriorated however around the time of Covid 19 and the pandemic.

“There was a need for drastic changes to the way NWAS worked. An argument ensued about shift patterns. Stacey Smith filed a formal grievance. The crux of the issue was Stacey Smith and her wife wished to work together and share non-working days.

“Allowances were made and it seemed as though the matter was at an end, but then the issue of shift patterns arose again.” Smith’s trial heard that the issue went on for ‘several months’.

Ms Bennett claimed Smith and her wife’s inability to attend the funeral of a regular patient in July 2022 ‘fed the resentment’, after they were told they had to work so couldn’t make it. That evening Smith began ‘abusing’ Ms Morton on Facebook and said ‘she would never let this go’, the jury heard.

Ms Morton was sent screenshots of the posts and reported them to NWAS. She asked that Smith and her wife be removed from her team, but the request was denied.

An investigation was launched and it was decided that Smith and her wife would be ‘separated’, and prevented from working together to ‘minimise the impact of their interviews’ on the service provided by NWAS. Smith was said to be ‘furious’ about the decision.

Ms Bennett said that ‘concerns arose’ surrounding Smith’s mental health, and ‘safeguarding action’ was taken so that she would be put on sick leave. A report by occupational health reported ‘no concerns’ regarding Smith’s mental health.

Smith and her wife remained absent from work for six months, and when they returned they re-joined Ms Morton’s team. Ms Morton again asked for them to be removed from her team, but the request was denied. In November last year, Smith went away on a trip to Cumbria with other NWAS staff including her wife.

After they returned, Smith’s wife told her that ‘she could not cope with Ms Morton anymore’ and said she was ‘going to end her own life’. Smith called a friend and told her what her wife had said. Smith was said to have told her that ‘she could not have this’, and ‘blamed Ms Morton’.

“She wanted the situation to be resolved,” Ms Bennett said. Smith raised a complaint with NWAS and said ‘she felt that she and her wife were being targeted’. Ms Morton declined to speak with her due to the ongoing issues.

Smith was due to be spoken to by NWAS’ HR department. But days before that, she turned up at Ms Morton’s home and attacked her.

Smith called a friend from the scene, telling her that she was outside Ms Morton’s home and ‘couldn’t take it anymore’. Smith 'pounced' as Ms Morton left for work, at about 5.30am on November 11.

She hit Ms Morton to the head with a hammer, causing her to fall. Ms Bennett said: "Stacey Smith was screaming at Ms Morton during the attack, calling her manager a bi***. She screamed that she was going to kill her. She was in a rage.”

Ms Morton raised her arm to protect herself and was hit by the hammer, suffering a fractured wrist. As the pair grappled over the hammer, Smith then walked away and dropped the weapon before driving away in her car.

Smith later sent messages to her friend ‘about what she had done’, and said she would ‘go on the run’ to Liverpool. But she was ‘talked down’ and handed herself in to police. Meanwhile Ms Morton was taken to hospital.

Smith was assessed by psychiatrists and spoke to them about the incident. Ms Bennett told the jury: “She [Smith] was very candid about her intent to kill Ms Morton, and how she wished she had.”

Smith, of Ascot Road, Newton Heath, is due to be sentenced next month.