'Troubled and devious' Devon woman stabbed husband in the back after argument, court told

• Watch our report from Sam Blackledge

A "complex, troubled and devious" woman stabbed her husband in the back following an argument at their north Devon home, a court has heard.

Christine Rawle is on trial for the murder of her husband, Ian Rawle, in August 2022 near Braunton.

Opening the case for the jury at Exeter Crown Court, Sean Brunton KC opened his case by referencing the popular Roald Dahl book 'The Twits'.

He said: "It's about a married couple who delight in making each other's lives as miserable as possible. They play tricks on each other, they are mean to each other. But they also need each other.

"While The Twits is a humorous story of fiction, and this case is very real, we say the book serves to illustrate a point.

"That some marriages, particularly those that have endured for many years, are complex, not always happy and often have hidden depths.

"But generally each party learns to live with the other, or else leaves."

Jurors were told that Mrs Rawle had attacked her husband twice before, once with a fork and once with a knife.

Mr Brunton added: "Once she put a hosepipe through the window of her husband's car and filled it with water. They would slap each other, push each other, call each other nasty names."

He went on to say: "This is as clear a case of murder as you are likely to find.

"This defendant was having an argument with her husband, Ian. She picked up a large, sharp knife, and in a fit of temper stabbed it into his back without any warning as he was walking away.

"She left the knife sticking out of his back and walked off, her husband following her and imploring her to pull the knife out."

The court heard how Mr Rawle collapsed and died in the garden a short time later.

Mrs Rawle's defence team will argue that she was the victim of a "coercive or controlling relationship". However, Mr Brunton said the prosecution refutes this.

"To stab a knife into someone's back without any warning is not an act of self-defence.

"She may be a complex, troubled and somewhat devious woman, but she doesn't have a psychological condition that would preclude her from being criminally responsible for murder," he said.

Mr Brunton added that the jury will hear more evidence that the pair had a troubled marriage.

"What 30-year marriage is without its complexities? Many marriages are far from happy. He did not torture, enslave or bully her. This defendant was far from being a defenceless or timid woman.

"They seemed to almost thrive on bickering and winding each other up. If anyone was the bully, we say it is this woman here."

The trial continues.