A MOTHER was stabbed 31 times in front of her child when her former partner flew into a rage when she refused to give him any money, jurors heard.

Christopher Blakemore is accused of trying to kill Amy Johnson when carried out the violent attack.

The alleged attack took place on October 13, 2019, at her home on Marske Lane, Bishopsgarth, Stockton, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, said the alleged victim suffered multiple stab wounds to her neck, shoulders, chest, stomach and thighs before managing to lock herself in the bathroom and call 999.

He said: "She was taken, by ambulance, for emergency treatment to James Cook University Hospital where required the insertion of a chest drain to re-inflate a collapsed lung – a life-threatening injury.

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"She also required surgery on her right arm to repair damage caused by the kitchen knife, being used, passing entirely through her right wrist."

Mr Perks told jurors that she outlined what had happened to the police three days after being treated for her multiple injuries in hospital.

She told the police that the defendant turned up at her back door asking for money and when she turned him away he lost his temper and forced his way into her home.

He said: "Shoving open the back door, shoving her across the kitchen, and taking up a knife from the knife block before he stood over her and repeatedly stabbed at her with the knife as she lay on the floor in the kitchen.

"She was able to move away from him and make her way into the living and as she fell again he continued to stand over her and stab her in front of their child who was stood watching half way up the stairs.

"She believes that he took hold of her head at one point and was aiming blows at her neck which she was trying to deflect with her arm.

"Throughout the incident, she recalled the defendant said absolutely nothing."

Mr Perks said the couple had split up three years earlier but the defendant refused to accept their relationship was over.

Blakemore, of Ammerston Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

In police interview, he told officers in a prepared statement that he acted in 'self-defence' when Ms Johnson attacked him with the knife.

Mr Perks described the claim as 'fanciful' when you consider the size of the defendant and his alleged victim.

The trial continues.

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