A JEALOUS husband who stabbed his wife ten times with a seven-inch vegetable knife for speaking to another man in a nightclub, has been jailed for nearly four years.
Martyn Bloomfield, 56, a fishmonger at Chelmsford Market, admitted knifing Kathy, the mother of his two children, in the buttocks and back after returning from a drunken night out in the city.
Kathy, a successful business-woman who runs the Axis Studio hair salon, in Wells Street, was out with her husband and a friend on June 22, enjoying a few drinks, Chelmsford Crown Court heard last Wednesday.
But things turned sour when Bloomfield saw Kathy talking to another man, who high-fived her and then leant in to kiss her, the court heard.
He asked her: "Did he kiss you? I will f****** kill him if he tried to kiss you."
Kathy said that he had not and they left the bar at 1am, to move on elsewhere for more drinks.
But Bloomfield went home well before Kathy, who returned to the couple's former family home, in Dukes Lane, Chelmer Village, at 4am.
Recalling the events, prosecutor Richard Stevens said that as soon as Kathy got in, Bloomfield was "raging at her".
"There was almost straight away a fight, however, how that started is unknown, but for all one knows it might have been a push and she was very soon on the floor of the hall.
"Bloomfield was kicking and punching her to such an extent she curled herself up into a ball.
"He then stepped briefly out into the kitchen and equipped himself with a knife and returned pretty quickly.
"He got down to a position beside his partner and then started hitting her.
"She was not aware that he was using a knife and said she just felt a sharp pain.
"Bloomfield suddenly got to his feet and said 'Oh my God, what have I done?'
"It was only at that stage that she realised that he had a knife with him."
Kathy asked him to phone an ambulance, but he began to phone cab firms instead, the court heard.
Bloomfield, who bought Kathy her salon to celebrate the birth of their first child, then took the decision to drive her to Broomfield Hospital, despite being over the limit.
After leaving her at the hospital, he was stopped by police and arrested when he refused to take a breathalyser test.
The couple were in a relationship for 12 years, and have two children, who are ten and five-years-old.
The court also heard there had been difficulties in the past, including brief separations and some violence.
Kathy also admitted to the doctors that she was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine that night, the court heard.
Defending, Ian James said how all parties in the case stressed that Bloomfield is a good father, and Kathy, at one stage, did not want to co-operate with the police, because of the disruption it would cause to their family life.
Mr James added: "He had gone from being a successful businessman to someone whose business was not doing so well.
"Kathy is an independent lady who runs her own business, and has assumed the role of major breadwinner in the relationship and he has had to take more of a back seat.
"As the years developed, he found himself taking more responsibility for the children."
The court heard Kathy has expressed her wish to separate from Bloomfield and not stay in the same house when he leaves prison. She has already moved out of the family home.
She was sobbing in the courtroom when he was sentenced by Judge Christopher Ball QC, who said that Bloomfield must serve half his sentence before being let out on parole.
Judge Ball QC added: "You were responsible for a serious and violent attack against your partner.
"I got from the evidence that your relationship was going through rocky times, and rightly or wrongly, you had it in mind that your partner was not being entirely straight with you and had found occasions in the past to support your thoughts that she might be unfaithful.
"It seems to be the period of custody that you must serve will take you from the family that you have been supporting, and the children as well."
After the court case, Kathy told the Chronicle: "I am not happy with the judge's decision but I do not want to comment any further."
