A furious husband stabbed his alcoholic wife in the breast after a drinking session led to an argument.

Sarah Blackman had downed four pints of cider before she and husband David, 38, went to a pub in Dover. There, Mrs Blackman had two more pints before the row.

She went home to Tower Hamlets Street and slept. Mrs Blackburn was awoken by her husband banging on the door.

"She was confronted by her husband, who was angry," prosecutor Richard Scott told Maidstone Crown Court. "He suggested she had upset on of his friends at the pub.

"He abused her. She went upstairs. He followed. He was in possession of a knife by that time. He was to admit he ordinarily kept it beneath the sofa.

"There was a confrontation on the stairs. He pushed the knife into her left breast. She went into the bedroom and called the police."

When male officers arrived, Mrs Blackman offered to show them the wound to her breasts - but was told it would be more appropriate for a female officer to take a look.

She said she did not really want medical assistance. The couple continued to be abusive to each other.

A woman police officer arrived and Mrs Blackman showed her a bloodstained bra and the injury. She was taken to Buckland Hospital and treated for a 2cm cut.

David Blackman was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

Blackman told police he argued with his wife on November 7 last year because she did not want to go to the Red Lion pub with him and a friend.

Mrs Blackman stormed off, he said, and she was still angry when he returned home. He added he called the police to take her away because she was behaving badly.

Blackman admitted assault causing actual bodily harm after asking Judge Philip St John-Stevens for an indication of the sentence he would receive.

The judge indicated a maximum of 18 months imprisonment, but reduced it to 16 months after hearing that Mrs Blackman had retracted her statement and wanted her husband home to care for her.

His not guilty pleas to wounding with intent and unlawful wounding were accepted.

Blackman has served almost six months on remand and is likely to be released within two months.