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A husband who plotted to kill his wife after she started a relationship with a woman has been jailed for 10 years.
Former psychiatric nurse Peter Wood launched a frenzied attack on his wife Tina in the early hours as she lay sleeping in bed.
The 44-year-old father first beat her about the head with a rolling pin and then stabbed her with a kitchen knife.
Mrs Wood, 34, managed to stagger outside the family home in Wainscott but he followed and continued with the “murderous” assault, inflicting further wounds.
The couple’s elder of two sons intervened and helped his mother until paramedics arrived. Mrs Wood was taken to a London hospital for treatment to 12 wounds.
Under an extended sentence for public protection, Wood, who admitted attempted murder, will not be considered for parole until he has served two thirds. He will be on licence for a further four years.
Judge Jeremy Carey said the couple’s 14-year-old son David deserved a reward for protecting his mother in a way that stopped her from being murdered.
“He showed great courage and presence of mind, not only in protecting his mother, but doing what he could to save her before the arrival of paramedics and the air ambulance,” he said.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the couple had been together for 14 years. Mrs Wood described the relationship as starting off in “a bit of a whirlwind”.
She became pregnant and her husband ended up on anti-depressants and suicidal.
“He said he looked for a kitchen knife and if he had found it would have killed her,” said prosecutor Martin Yale. “However, she thought little of it at the time.
There were bouts of violence and arguments became worse. They decided to split last year but continued sleeping in the same room.
In January this year, Wood saw a conversation his wife was having with a friend on Facebook about her having a relationship with a woman.
“He was angry with her and insisted she told the children, but she didn’t want to at that stage,” said Mr Yale.
She was asleep at their home in Glimmer Way on February 4 when Wood struck her on the head with the rolling pin. He then held her face down on the bed with a pillow over her head.
“She could hear him saying he was going to kill her,” said Mr Yale. “She began to scream to the boys as loudly as she could.”
Wood grabbed at her throat as the two boys tried to get him off. She felt a stabbing pain to her ribs. She managed to get down the stairs and out of the house.
Wood followed and stabbed her in the ribs again. She fell to the ground and could no longer make any noise.
One of the boys went to get a nurse who lived in the street. Wood called 999 declaring: “I tried to kill my wife. I need an ambulance and police. I hit her and I have stabbed her too.”
Asked why he did it, he replied: “I had to do it. I am not explaining. I just had to do it.”
Mr Yale said the victim was lying in a pool of blood and having trouble breathing. A land ambulance and the air ambulance arrived and she was taken to London’s King’s College Hospital.
“She could hear him saying he was going to kill her. She began to scream to the boys as loudly as she could" - prosecutor Martin Yale
Despite multiple wounds and a collapsed lung, her condition was stable. She believed her life was saved by the eldest son.
A police officer went into the house and found Wood wearing a T-shirt covered in blood. The knife was on the floor.
He said he had been planning to kill his wife for two days because he hated her. He had recently discovered she was having an affair with a woman.
Wood threatened that he would “finish her off” if he saw her again.
Judge Carey said it was dreadful for a man to try to kill anyone but it was an appalling crime that he should do so to someone he had professed love and affection.
“It is troubling in the extreme you took the course you did,” he told Wood. “That night you were set on a course you had planned.
“You made the decision to kill the mother of your two sons. You set about that attack with a purpose. It is to the credit of Tina Wood that she showed great presence of mind in what was a terrifying ordeal for her.”
The judge said he reached a clear conclusion that Wood posed a risk of causing further harm in the future.
“You were of good character, a caring father who worked hard to support his family,” he continued. “You have lost all that. You have effectively lost everything by your criminal conduct.”
Judge Carey said he would recommend that the eldest son be given a reward for his courage, but only if he wanted it.
For help dealing with domestic abuse, visit www.domesticabuseservices.org.uk.
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