Man is jailed for stabbing wife

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7456948.stm

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A 38-year-old man has been jailed for five years for stabbing his wife in the back of the neck.

Terence Samways admitted the attack at their Ballyquinton Gardens home in Bangor on 20 February last year. He was earlier cleared of attempted murder.

The couple had split up over Samways' drinking and he attacked his wife after she went back to their house to collect belongings from it.

After the stabbing, a drunken Samways set fire to the house.

Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, was told he had attacked his wife twice in the days before the stabbing.

Mr Justice Coghlin said while Mrs Samways said the attacks were "completely out of character", he had formed the view "both occasions must have been terrifying experiences".

He said the victim was "indeed fortunate that she was not more seriously injured as a result of the stabbing".

The judge said it was accepted that "a deeply remorseful" Samways, with a clear record, posed little danger to the public as the causes of his "violent behaviour were inextricably" linked to the break-down of his marriage.

However he added that "does not distract in the least from the severity with which the courts view acts of violence committed upon those who are both physically and emotionally vulnerable perpetrated by those from whom they are entitled to expect affection, compassion and respect".

Samways agreed to serve two years on probation to help with his drink problems.

The judge also ordered that Mrs Samways be informed when he is "about to be released from prison".