Alcohol the 'devil', says woman guilty of manslaughter

File photo / NZH

A woman who fatally stabbed the father of her two children after a night of drinking later told police alcohol was the devil, a court has been told.

Stacey Nancy Woods, 29, pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Gisborne yesterday to murdering Douglas Leslie James Tukotanui Tupaea on last May 22.

The couple had been together for 10 years and had children aged nine and seven, Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker said.

Woods stabbed Mr Tupaea twice in the upper chest with a kitchen knife after arriving at their Stout Street home after 4.30am when an argument continued.

Both Woods and Mr Tupaea had drunk a lot of alcohol during the night, Mr Walker said.

Woods was punched in the face at least twice by Mr Tupaea as they argued.

She received a swollen upper lip and a bleeding nose.

Mr Walker said the first blow with the 7cm blade did not penetrate Mr Tupaea's chest but the second entered his heart and was fatal, a pathologist found.

Woods initially admitted stabbing Mr Tupaea.

She later told police that things had happened fast and she was not sure what weapon she had used.

"Alcohol is the devil," she said.

Mr Walker said the couple moved from Auckland early in 2010 to escape from negative influences that had led to Tupaea's imprisonment. However, difficulties remained in their relationship.

Before midnight on May 21, the couple had been at a different addresses where Mr Tupaea discussed "negative influences" with a man with similar experiences.

Woods was angry that Mr Tupaea was talking to him and not socialising, and the argument started at that point.

It was 4.30am when the couple went home, where the argument continued and the stabbing happened, Mr Walker said.

Woods was remanded in custody for sentencing on May 25.

Counsel Russell Fairbrother said he would present a psychiatrist's report at sentencing, which would include battered wife syndrome evidence.

- NZPA