A WOMAN who almost killed a Good Samaritan by stabbing her 45 times must stay in a secure hospital, a judge has ruled.

Karen Sutherland, 45, had allowed her attacker to stay in her flat in Sighthill, Glasgow, because she had nowhere to go after a fire in her own home.

But the following morning Jacqueline Reuston, 46, pulled a knife from her jeans and launched a frenzied assault when she was ordered to leave.

Ms Sutherland, who had been out of the flat to visit relatives, complained when she returned to find all the cooker rings had been turned on, as well as the grill and the oven.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Stewart heard that the near-fatal attack last May 27 was the latest in a series of violent outbursts by paranoid schizophrenic Reuston.

She had a history of refusing to co-operate with social services and not taking her medication properly, the judge was told.

After the Sighthill incident, Reuston was sent to Glasgow's Rowan- bank Clinic where she has remained since.

Defence advocate Susan Duff said Reuston wanted to be released and did not think she needed to be locked up in hospital.

But Lord Stewart made orders, allowing doctors there to continue her treatment without limit of time. She can be released only with the approval of the Scottish Government Ministers.

At an earlier hearing Reuston admitted attempting to murder the woman who had tried to do her a good turn.

The court heard then about the row over the cooker.

Advocate depute Murdoch MacTaggart said: "Without any apparent warning the accused then produced a knife from her jeans.

"Ms Sutherland turned her back and was conscious of being stabbed repeatedly to her back."

Mr MacTaggart added: "She believed at the time that she was going to lose her life."

The court heard that Ms Sutherland managed to stagger from the flat and slumped in a lift. She was found there by neighbours.

Doctors said her injuries were life-threatening and she spent two days in intensive care. She will be scarred for life.

The court heard that the two women had known each other for about three years but were not particularly friendly.