Woman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court told

A woman knifed her husband to death with a 15cm kitchen knife while their son played on his PlayStation upstairs, a court has heard.
Woman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court toldWoman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court told
Woman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court told

Natasha Welsh, 43, is accused of stabbing her husband of 25 years Martin Welsh, 47, at their home in Greyhound Hill in Hendon, north west London on October 26 last year.

He was pronounced dead in the early hours of the following day.

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The mother-of-two denies murder and an alternative count of manslaughter, claiming she has no memory of the incident.

Woman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court toldWoman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court told
Woman knifed husband to death while son played Fortnite, court told

The Old Bailey heard on Monday that both she and her husband had been drinking heavily before the killing.

The jury heard that their son 21-year-old son Kyle has mental health problems including acute ADHD and that Welsh acted as his full-time carer.

He had been messaging his sister Charlie, who did not live with the family, and her boyfriend while playing Fortnite on his PS4 about the row raging downstairs.

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He wrote: "Things kicking off. How do I avoid it even with my music on?"

He added: "Just play and forget I said anything. Everyone has to deal with their troubles."

Later he said: "Those dickheads need to learn how to handle their alcohol. Smashing sh*t up."

Kyle then complained his parents were calling his name.

A few minutes later he typed: "Call 999 mum stabbed dad and he died. Please, please, please, please."

"He's dead by now and I'm going to kill her," he added.

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He pleaded with his sister to call the police because he couldn't find the phone, saying: "I beg, beg, beg. No bulls***ting he's flat on the floor."

Jurors were warned that in the 999 call he made when he finally found the phone, Kyle could be heard laughing but that was due to his ADHD.

He told the operator: "My dad's on the floor with a stab wound in his shoulder and my mum's acting like she's done nothing."

Mr Welsh was later found to have died from a single stab wound to the chest.

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Earlier in the day, Kyle and his mother had been seen in CCTV footage buying large amounts of alcohol at their local Co-Op, and later in the evening Kyle and his father returning to stock up again.

Following her arrest, Welsh denied having any memory of the killing.

In a prepared statement, she said: "I can't explain how this happened.

"I do know my husband and I used to have have arguments and sometimes we used to fight.

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"I can't remember if we were arguing or fighting on this occasion."

In a later statement she said: "The last thing I remember doing is standing in the kitchen talking to him, I really can't remember what happened."

She added: "I accept I must have been the one who stabbed Martin."

Prosecutor Peter Little QC said: "The defendant does not positively suggest that she acted in self-defence or in any way that she lost her self-control.

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"She says she can't remember what happened, whether that was because she was drunk, which she undoubtedly was, or whether it is anything to do with the trauma of the incident are matters for you to consider."

He continued: "Bear in mind throughout this trial that she used a kitchen knife to kill the deceased, a kitchen knife with a 15cm blade.

"A kitchen knife that when it was used to stab, nearly all of that blade must have entered Mr Welsh's body."

The trial is expected to last seven or eight days.