Mum guilty of stabbing husband to death with kitchen knife while son played Fortnite upstairs

Natasha Welsh has been found guilty of murder after stabbing her husband to death
Met Police
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A mother-of-two has been found guilty of stabbing her husband to death with a 15cm kitchen knife as her son played computer games upstairs.

Natasha Welsh, 43, was said by her children to have the "strength of 10 men" and behaved like a "lunatic" when she was under the influence of alcohol.

She used a kitchen knife to stab Martin Welsh in the chest at the family home in Hendon, north-west London.

Welsh denied the murder of her husband of 25 years, saying she could not remember events leading to the 47-year-old's death.

The address in Hendon, north-west London, where Martin Welsh was stabbed to death in October last year
PA

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for six hours and 34 minutes to find her guilty of murder.

The court heard that the couple were heavy drinkers whose relationship had turned "toxic".

They would argue and make "snide" remarks to each other, sometimes getting physical, jurors were told.

Natasha Welsh drawn in the Old Bailey in October last year
PA Wire/PA Images

On October 26 last year, Welsh took a blade from her knife block and plunged it into her husband's chest while her son Kyle was playing Fortnite on his PlayStation.

In text messages to his sister Charlie and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Kyle wrote: "Things kicking off. How do I avoid it even with my music on?"

Later he said: "Those d*******s need to learn how to handle their alcohol. Smashing s*** up."

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

Mr Welsh was pronounced dead in the early hours of the following day.

Giving evidence, Welsh said that by 2018 she was spending most of the household kitty on alcohol and cannabis.

On the killing, she said: "I could not remember what I was doing. I don't remember. I must have taken the knife from the knife block."

She wept in the dock as she was convicted by a majority of 10 jurors to two. She will be sentenced on Thursday.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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