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Home / Lifestyle

Man brutally stabs wife in throat in cruel 'surprise' after sex

NZ Herald
5 Sep, 2019 04:02 AM3 mins to read

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He told her to close her eyes for a surprise, counted down from 10 and stabbed her. Photo / Facebook

He told her to close her eyes for a surprise, counted down from 10 and stabbed her. Photo / Facebook

Shaun May told his wife to close her eyes for a surprise, counted down from 10 and stabbed her in the throat so hard the knife handle broke.

May brutally attacked his wife Laura in October last year and was today convicted of attempted murder.

The 34-year-old man from Kent in Britain admitted causing the wound on October 9 but denies attempted murder.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Laura and Shaun had just had sex when he told her to lay on the bed and wait, because he had a "surprise" for her.

Laura was expecting a gift but, instead, was stabbed violently between the shoulder and the neck.

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The wife yesterday took the stand in court and spoke of how the pair had been together for six years and "really loved each other".

Photo / Facebook
Photo / Facebook

She said they hardly ever argued and would only "sometimes bicker about the washing up".

She recalled the night of October 9, just after they had returned from a holiday in Korea. They enjoyed a takeaway dinner before going to bed.

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In the early hours, May headed downstairs, telling his wife he thought he'd heard a noise.

He returned and the couple had sex. He then said: "I've got a present for you. Would you like it?"

Laura said in court that she answers "yes" and he told her to close her eyes, which she did.

"He told me to lay on my back, which I did and he placed something over my eyes. I thought it was a tea towel."

According to the victim, he then paced around the room or 10 minutes before she became fed up.

"He then started counting down from ten ... nine ... eight ... seven ... five ... four ... three ... then two ... four ... two ... three. I was getting annoyed.

"He did this two or three times. He never reached zero."

"I said to him 'This had better be a puppy' because we had talked about having one but he said 'It's not a puppy'," she recalled.

"Then it was just silent and I suddenly felt a pressure on my shoulder. I thought an animal had been thrown on me, something was clawing at me.

Photo / Facebook
Photo / Facebook

"I was screaming 'I can't get it off, I can't get it off'. I must have reached up there at some point and realised there was nothing there, no animal. But there was something rectangular in there. I thought it was a clamp or some kind of Halloween prop because I could feel blood trickling down.

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"I shouted, 'This isn't real.' He said to me, 'This is real.' He sounded so calm."

Laura told court that, when she realised she had been stabbed, May appeared holding two knives, saying he was going to kill himself.

He admitted to have been let go from his job the day before and said he planned to kill himself over fears he could not pay the mortgage.

He ended up driving his wife to hospital where she told staff she had injured herself.

She then recalled the moment she broke down in tears as a nurse told her police had been called, because hospital staff could tell she had been stabbed.

"I picked up the knife and rather than injure myself I took it out on Laura," the husband reportedly told a police officer at the hospital.

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Prosecution said it was only "by sheer good fortune" that Laura's injuries weren't worse, as the knife narrowly missed her vital arteries.

May will be sentenced in October.

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