A PSYCHIATRIST said a teenager who suffered years of violent and emotional abuse in the 'toxic environment' of the family home could use loss of control as a partial defence after stabbing her father.

Jessica Breeze and her mother Kelly suffered years of abuse at the hands of Colin Brady before his last outburst of violence ended when the 19-year-old plunged a kitchen knife into his back.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Breeze, now 20, was interviewed by two consultant forensic psychiatrists ahead of her trial and both identified her abuse as a potential trigger for events that unfolded in their home on Keith Road, Middlesbrough, last June.

Dr James Stoddart, who was asked by the Crown Prosecution Service to carry out a report, said the mother and daughter had endured years of 'humiliation' when a 'mist' descended on Jessica the night she killed her father after he beat and threatened kill the pair.

"This is in her words 'a mist came over her, she couldn't recall picking up the knife but she remembered her father asking her what she had done? She recalled calling the ambulance service and then the police," he said.

"She gave to me a very clear account of severe physical and emotional abuse over a number of years.

"A partial defence of loss of control is there."

Asked by defence counsel, Simon Russell Flint QC, whether it was unusual in cases such as this that someone would not be able to remember the exact details of what happened. He simply replied: "No."

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Patrick Quinn told the court that Breeze had no identifiable mental disorder following his two meetings with her.

He said she had told him that she could not remember the exact details of what happened when she fatally injured her father but did remember him asking her if she had stabbed him.

The doctor told jurors that he believed that mother and daughter lived in a state of 'fear, dread and anxiety' in their daily dealings with Colin Brady in the 'toxic environment' of their home.

When asked why he thought Jessica Breeze had not simply moved out of the family home, Dr Quinn said: "Her account to me left an impression that to avoid causing disharmony in the family home she stayed on.

"Her account was that it was an easier path for her to not leave home."

He added: "They will have perceived a real threat to their lives at that time."

The doctor also confirmed that it would not be unusual for someone who has experienced a severely traumatic event not to be able to recall it accurately and chronologically.

Earlier the court heard how Mr Brady died as the result of a single stab wound to the back.

Breeze, now of Central Mews, Middlesbrough, denies the murder of her father.

The trial continues.