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A former councillor told the police his wife was "psycho" after he was arrested for stabbing her three times, a jury has heard.

Darren Brown, 35, admitted grievous bodily harm with intent but he denied the attempted murder of his wife Corrine at their home in Wildmill, Bridgend, on 10 July last year.

Mr Brown told Cardiff Crown Court on Friday he "never wanted to kill her" but picked the knife up to threaten her and "make her listen".

He claimed he had no recollection of stabbing his wife but accepted he had.

Jurors were shown Ms Brown's heavily bloodstained pink dressing gown, and the three holes from where the knife punctured it.

He said he feared he was going to lose his children because his wife wanted a separation.

“She just said ‘I don’t love you any more’ and I was quite confused and questioning what’s gone wrong,” said Mr Brown.

He said he had no recollection of stabbing his wife during a row about the breakdown of their 16-year relationship.

The weekend before the alleged attempted murder, Ms Brown, a play worker, had travelled to Southend-on-Sea in Essex to meet a man she had been talking to on Snapchat.

Mr Brown said: "I was just really glad she was back because I was worried all weekend that she might not come back."

He said he remembered his wife telling him "I’m going to Essex and I’m taking the kids" and getting into a "quite heated" argument.

As he followed his wife up the stairs he "grabbed a knife" because he "wanted her to listen."

"Everything was happening so fast, and I thought I was going to lose my family," he said.

The jury was told Mr Brown had lied to the police who had attended their home in Wildmill following the incident.

Mr Brown told the police his wife had the knife when they came to arrest him, jurors heard.

But Mr Brown admitted this was a lie.

The trial continues.