Man ‘stabbed twice by estranged wife after he had their dogs put down’

A man who was stabbed twice by his estranged wife after he had their dogs put down had to use ‘all his strength’ to fend her off, a court has heard.

Keith Bridger and his wife Claire, 64, were married for almost 40 years, but she is accused of attempting to murder him after their relationship broke down last year.

Norwich Crown Court heard Mr Bridger had moved out of the marital home in Taverham, Norfolk, at the time of the stabbing, although they were still having mediation sessions.

Mrs Bridger allegedly attacked her husband at his new property in the Street, Bramerton, when she went to visit him. She’s denied attempted murder.

In court, Mr Bridger said his wife became ‘almost hysterical’ after he told her what happened to her dogs.

He told the court: ‘I said to her, ‘You know what’s happened to the dogs, Claire. I said, ‘Claire, the dogs have been put down.”

Mr Bridger said the defendant ‘became almost hysterical’, and began screaming: ‘You killed my dogs, you killed my dogs.’

The jury heard the couple took on two rescue dogs in 2020 and 2021, which were said to be ‘noisy’, ‘bitey’, and to have ‘behavioural issues’.

The dogs, which had been staying with Mr Bridger after the relationship broke down, were put down after he unsuccessfully tried to rehome them.

Mr Bridger said she had pulled the car up towards him before getting out with a knife in her right hand and stabbing him.

Mr Bridger said he was stabbed ‘in the left side of my chest, just below and to the left of my nipple’.

He said he received a second stab below his rib cage and another under his armpit – all while using ‘all his strength and might’ to fight her off.

The jury heard Bridger told her husband he was a ‘bas***d’ who had ‘killed our dogs’ and ‘ruined’ her life.

He said his wife then bit him twice on his right thigh as he screamed for help, lying on his back, losing blood.

Mr Bridger said: “She bit me twice in my right thigh. I cried out for help.

Mrs Bridger was only disarmed by neighbours who came to his aid, and later told the court she stopped by her husband’s home ‘on spur of the moment’ to drop things off.

Bridger said she asked her husband whether he could pay for their next mediation session, and had asked her husband where the dogs were.

She said she opened the car door, but she couldn’t remember what happened next before feeling a ‘huge weight’ on her back.

Mr Hunter also asked Bridger about the kitchen knife she had in the car with her. She said it had been in the vehicle after a recent run to the tip, and she had it in her hands as she was trying to move her seats back, before ‘tossing’ it in her front seat.

She told the court her last memory was her husband telling her ‘with complete fury in his face’ that the dogs had been put down.

She said she started panicking and felt this anxiety building up in her, later admitting she looked like a ‘mad woman’ when shown the footage.

Neighbour Naomi Yeoh told the court she came outside to see what was happening after hearing shouting and commotion.

The witness said she went out and could then see a man and a woman having a struggle on the ground.

Mrs Yeoh, who said the man on the ground was Keith, told jurors he ‘looked like he was trying to fight her off’.

Other neighbours then came and helped get Mrs Bridger off her husband, and a doctor helped Mr Bridger.

Mrs Yeoh said Bridger ‘smelt very strongly of alcohol’ and ‘looked mad and intoxicated’.

Bridger has admitted an offence of wounding with intent but denies attempted murder.

The trial continues.

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