Janice Carter is on trial at Canterbury Crown Court

by Paul Hooper

A mum-of-two has told a jury of the moment she struck out at her lover during a drunken fight at her Margate home.

Janice Carter, 28, claimed she had suffered years of physical and verbal abuse by her 30-year-old ex-husband Kevin Carter.

He was found dead at the flat in Sweyn Road - just hours after being released from a prison sentence for driving offences.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how his body had been discovered with 21 knife wounds.

The couple were still together despite divorcing two years earlier and a jury was read Mr Carter's love letters penned from his cell - just days before his death - in which he said he wanted to re-marry and have more children.

But Janice, who denies murder, told the court she had lived in fear of the man she claimed had regularly beaten her.

Despite the beatings, she told the jury she frequently forgave him after he apologised, "because I loved him".

In October last year, Mr Carter had been released early from a 180-day sentence on condition that he was electronically tagged.

But when security officials arrived to fit the monitoring device the pair - who had been drinking beer during the afternoon - began arguing about where it was to be placed inside the flat.

That argument led a fight which resulted in Mr Carter dying from stab wounds - including one which severed an artery, the court heard.

Janice Carter had told the court how she had met her lover in Margate after his prison release and the two then went to a pub for a drink.

"he began slapping me with the palm of his hand across my head from side to side. he was screaming in my face. i was scared. i was trying to calm him down…” – defendant janice carter

"When we got back we kissed and cuddled. We were still drinking," she said.

She claimed that Mr Carter "got the hump" after making a phone call to his son and when a neighbour arrived to complain about the loud music they invited him to stay for a drink.

But when her ex-husband left the room, she persuaded the neighbour to take a large glass of Southern Comfort and tip it down the drain.

She claimed that when Mr Carter discovered his drink missing it made him even more angry and after the neighbour left she claimed she was attacked.

"He began slapping me with the palm of his hand across my head from side to side. He was screaming in my face. I was scared. I was trying to calm him down.

"He started kicking things around the room. I wanted to leave but he never gave me a chance.

"We were in the kitchen and he grabbed my hair and I was holding his arms. I just reached behind and grabbed a knife. I just swung the knife and stabbed him. I just lashed out. I can't remember how many times.

"I just wanted him to stop him pulling my hair. When he let go, I dropped the knife and ran out of the door."

Her barrister, Oliver Saxby asked: "Did you intend to kill him?"

She replied: "No."

The court heard how that Mrs Carter then went to the home of her sister, Michelle Cheney, in Zion Place and told her: "I've killed him. I've stabbed him. I think he's dead."

Her brother-in-law went to the flat and found Mr Carter lying on the kitchen floor with a kitchen knife by his side.

A pathologist discovered some of the knife wounds had penetrated his heart and lung and severed an artery.

The trial continues.