Woman killed partner after he told her relationship was over, court told

A father-of-four was stabbed to death by his ex-partner hours after he told her their relationship was over, a court has been told.

Abigail White, 24, stabbed Bradley Lewis in the chest at her home in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, on the evening of March 25 this year.

White denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

During day one of her trial at Bristol Crown Court today (Monday 10 October), the jury heard Mr Lewis was fatally injured minutes after leaving a pub with White on the evening of March 25 this year.

A neighbour, Laura Cundy, heard White screaming “he can’t breathe” and dialled 999, and when she entered the house she found Mr Lewis lying on the kitchen floor.

The 22-year-old was taken to hospital but died hours later from a stab wound that penetrated his heart.

Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told the court Mrs Cundy found "a lot of blood on the floor of the house".

“Although it appears that Ms White had made some attempts to clean up, because the mop had been used and there was clothing in the washing machine, and a knife with a blade about six or seven inches long on top of the radiator cover in the hallway.

“Abigail White was hysterical.

“Mrs Cundy did what she could to give first aid to Mr Lewis, following the directions given to her by the ambulance service, pressing on the wound which she found he had in the middle of his chest, and counting his breaths.”

Ms Vigars said the call handlers had asked Mrs Cundy to try to find out how Mr Lewis had been injured.

“It took some time to get any version out of Ms White, but what Mrs Cundy was able to get from her was that Mr Lewis and she had been arguing, he had picked up the knife, and he had stabbed himself in the chest with it,” the prosecutor said.

“In other words, although it took Mrs Cundy some time, she was quite clear that the wound was self-inflicted.”

A post-mortem examination found Mr Lewis suffered a single stab wound, at least 7cm deep, to the chest, which had penetrated his heart.

White told police in a prepared statement that they had argued after arriving home and he had reached for a knife with which to harm himself.

“She told the police that she thought that he was planning to harm himself so, she explained, she grabbed the knife herself and took it out of the kitchen, intending to go to the front door and throw it outside,” Mrs Vigars said.

“Mr Lewis caught up with her in the hallway, she said, and grabbed her hand holding the knife, pulling it into his chest.

“She was absolutely clear with the police, ‘I did not stab Bradley’.”

The jury was told their relationship was strained, with Mr Lewis leaving the family home and staying with his mother.

On the day of the attack, Mr Lewis had been at a park with White and another family, and he had told her: “I don’t want to be with you anymore Abi.”

The court heard White had stabbed Mr Lewis in the arm a week or so before the incident.

After her arrest, police recovered voice messages in which she expressed her “anger and sense of betrayal” over his “unfaithfulness, or assumed unfaithfulness”.

“She explained how she had had enough of being lied to and that she had to beat the truth out of him, even threatening him with a knife,” Mrs Vigars said.

“She acknowledged that she had no limits when angry.”

White, of Chipperfield Drive, Kingswood, denies murder but admits Mr Lewis’s manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The trial continues.