Woman 'doesn't remember' fatally stabbing husband

Henri Kekkonen was fatally stabbed on 9 May this year

A wife who stabbed her husband of 15 years as they lay in bed told a court she "can’t remember" the incident.

Christine Kekkonen, 36, is on trial at Bristol Crown Court for the murder of Henri Kekkonen at their home in Baltonsborough, Glastonbury, on 9 May this year.

Immediately after the incident the defendant texted her mother saying: "Please send the police here now, I've done something awful."

Mrs Kekkonen, who has a history of mental illness, denies murder and told police she often "dissociates" and cannot remember the events of that day.

The victim, who was originally from Finland, died at the scene from a single stab wound to the neck, the jury heard.

No evidence of any other significant injury was found, nor signs of blunt force assault or defence injuries.

Heavy blood staining was found on the couple’s bed at their bungalow on Dunford Terrace.

The police recovered a knife from the floor on the left-hand side of the bed.

'I think I've killed him'

Mrs Kekkonen texted her mother at around 16:20 BST on the day of the killing from both her own phone and later her husband’s phone.

She then called her mother, telling her: "I think I’ve killed him, I’ve stuck a knife in his neck."

In extracts from her police interview played to the jury, Mrs Kekkonen answered "no comment" to most questions asked of her.

But she told officers: "The only thing I remember is going to the kitchen to smoke because that is the only place I am allowed to smoke."

Christine and Henri Kekkonen lived at Dunford Terrace in Baltonsborough, Glastonbury

After being taken into custody, Mrs Kekkonen said: "I don’t deserve to be made comfortable considering what I’ve done."

She later added: "I couldn’t help it."

But in her police interview she said she didn’t remember making the remarks.

The defendant told officers if she doesn’t take her psychiatric medication "I get very ill. I get blackouts and panic attacks".

She said she did not remember whether she had taken her medication on 9 May.

Mrs Kekkonen said she often "dissociates",

She added: "I’m not actually in control of myself. It feels like I can be physically present but my mind is not present if that makes sense."

"Sometimes I don't remember a lot of the things and I get very scared when it happens," she said.

"When I come to, I think I'm in the house that I grew up in"

The trial, which is expected to last 10 days, continues.