A TEARFUL ten-year-old described to a court yesterday how she told her daddy she would always love him as he lay dying after being stabbed by her mother.

During an emotional 41-minute video interview played to a jury, little Jayne Lovegreen wiped her eyes as she told how she watched her mother pull a knife from her boot before stabbing her father, 34-year-old John Lovegreen.

The child's mother also called Jayne, 34, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her estranged husband. She wept in the dock as she watched her daughter recount the events of July 6 last year.

The video was filmed at a County Durham police station only days after the incident.

Hugging a cuddly giraffe, the girl said: "Mum turned up at dad's house, she wanted me to go with her but my dad came in. I saw mum stab him.''

The girl said that she held her dying father's hand and he said that he loved her. She replied: "I love you too, dad, and I'll always love you.''

Franz Muller QC, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court how, after separating from her husband, Lovegreen became aware of her husband's relationship with another woman.

The couple, who married in 1990, ran a cattle and sheep farm and contracting business from their home at Greenfield Farm, High Etherley, near Bishop Auckland.

Mr Muller said it was apparent from the early stages of the relationship that Jayne Lovegreen had a jealous nature.

He said that while there was no suggestion that Mr Lovegreen had ever been violent, Jayne Lovegreen had often lashed out at her husband.

She had taken an overdose of paracetamol in 1999 after a row but the couple agreed to stay together for the sake of their daughter.

He told the jury that the arguments, however, continued and in April of last year Lovegreen hit her husband with a pan of hot water, scalding his back.

The couple, he said, eventually separated with Mr Lovegreen moving to a bed and breakfast before living in a cottage on Baal Hill Farm, at Wolsingham, where he began a relationship with another woman.

The court heard that on July 5 last year, Mr Lovegreen and his daughter went to see a film at the Gateshead MetroCentre with the woman and her son.

During their visit, Jayne Lovegreen, who had become aware of the relationship, called her daughter on her mobile phone and asked who she was with.

With his daughter upset at the call, Mr Lovegreen took the phone and said their daughter was distressed.

The next day, Mr Muller said, Lovegreen - who continued living at Greenfield Farm - telephoned her daughter again claiming her father was regularly sleeping with the other woman.

Mr Lovegreen, who had access to his daughter at weekends, took the phone and told his wife "You are an unfit mother'' and said he would not bring his daughter back on the Sunday.

Lovegreen, who had been helping with milking at a local farm, then drove to her home where she picked up a kitchen knife.

The court heard how she then drove to Weardale to confront her husband.

When she found he was not at home she drove around for two hours before returning and, with the knife hidden in her right boot, confronted him.

Mr Muller said: "She drew the knife and in the presence of her daughter stabbed the deceased.''

He added: "The attack with the knife was carried out in jealousy and anger. The defendant then left the deceased dying or dead and drove off.''

Lovegreen, said Mr Muller, drove towards Cumbria, stopping at a shop for petrol and paracetamol on the way.

She was eventually stopped and arrested near Carlisle, and during a police interview said: "I stabbed him I just wanted him to stop telling lies."

But she said she had not gone to the cottage with the intention of killing her husband.

The trial continues