Son's outrage over murder verdict

Natalie Ford outside the High Court at Auckland yesterday after being acquitted of murdering Gary Marshall. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The woman who plunged a knife into her partner's chest has been acquitted of his murder - much to the fury of his son, who was escorted from the courtroom after screaming abuse at her.

Anger boiled over in the High Court at Auckland yesterday after a jury took only five hours to decide Natalie Theresa Ford was not guilty of the murder of her partner, Gary Marshall, last year.

As the foreman read the verdict, Mr Marshall's son, Kane, yelled out, "F***ing hope you rot, bitch", before police led him from the courtroom.

Outside, he wept as he said he had to tell Ms Ford how he felt.

"I had to say something. I kept my composure, I kept cool all week. I couldn't help myself, to let her know how I feel. She's affected not just one person but an entire family."

He pointed to a stroller nearby.

"My Dad didn't even get to see his first grandson ... He didn't get to see Dustin."

Gary Marshall's brother and mother were also in tears outside court.

"I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do now," Mr Marshall said.

Speaking exclusively to the Herald last night, Ms Ford, 44, said she understood the anger and would feel the same if it were a member of her family who had died.

"Gary's gone and I feel for them."

Ms Ford and Mr Marshall had been in a volatile relationship for about four months when an argument broke out last year.

During her two-week trial, Ms Ford admitted stabbing the 45-year-old but said it was self-defence after she was punched, kicked and choked.

The Crown said Ms Ford acted in anger by stabbing Mr Marshall in the chest so hard that the blade chipped his ribs and the impact of her fist bruised his flesh.

One witness, Simon Turner, said he was delivering circulars when he saw Mr Marshall punch Ms Ford in the face, grab her hair and bang her head against the door frame three times.

The Crown said that was when the assault ended, but Ms Ford told the court the abuse continued.

"Gary was kicking me. I was lying on the ground. I curled up, protecting my head in the fetal position so he couldn't kick my ribs because I was winded."

She said she threatened to call the police but Mr Marshall grabbed her cellphone and snapped it in half.

Ms Ford said Marshall put his hands around her throat and said: "I'll f***ing kill you, you bitch."

He slammed her head into the kitchen bench, and she reached for a kitchen knife.

"I picked up the knife. He pulled me back up."

Ms Ford then made an action of lunging forward with the knife.

"That was it. I threw the knife across the kitchen."

Last night, Ms Ford told the Herald women should not stay in abusive relationships.

"Just get the hell out ... before you get stuck in it."

She said she would not get into another abusive relationship.

"I'm not going out with a man for some time and it won't be a person who is violent or alcoholic."

Jane Drumm, executive director of Shine, New Zealand's largest anti-domestic-violence organisation, said Ms Ford would probably not have been acquitted 20 years ago.

She said the verdict showed attitudes towards domestic violence had changed.

"It shows the level of understanding people now have for the situation abused women find themselves in."

Ms Drumm said it was not common for women to use weapons in self-defence "but it still happens".

Auckland barrister Graeme Newell said that once an accused person claimed to have been acting in self-defence, the onus was on the Crown to disprove it.

Self-defence was a justification for someone's actions, he said, but it could be a difficult concept for jury members.

"They have to try to put themselves in someone else's shoes and see how they would react."