Girl 'saw partner stab mother'

Paul Viner, 45, denies murdering 39-year-old Donna Brough at her home in Tylorstown, Rhondda.

One of the daughters, Rebecca, 19, was also stabbed in the attack, allegedly caused by Mr Viner reacting badly to Mrs Brough going for a night out.

Mr Viner also denies wounding with intent but admits unlawful wounding. The trial continues.

The court heard on Tuesday how Mr Viner flew into a "seething rage" after Mrs Brough arrived home from the Cosmopolitan club in Tylorstown at a time he considered to be late.

" I thought he was going to kill us as well "
Daughter, 19

Earlier, he had reported her to the police as a missing person and two officers had visited the house.

Prosecuting, David Aubrey told the jury: "The officers could see Viner was plainly annoyed. He was seething with anger and was emphasising the shortness of Donna's skirt that night."

Giving evidence, Rebecca said: "We heard mum coming home and we sat on the stairs as she came in. She said: 'Am I going to have a row?'

"Mum seemed a bit merry but not drunk. In the front room, Paul said to her 'You think it is funny do you?'. He was shouting in her face.

"My sister put her arms around my mother's neck and said, 'Don't hit my mother. I love my mother', because she thought Paul was going to hit her."

She said she saw Mr Viner get something from the sofa, which she thought was a remote control, but was actually a fisherman's knife.

"I screamed, my sister ran to me because he was going for our mother with the knife.

"I grabbed the blade and he pushed it down into my hand. I couldn't stop him."

Stomach

The court heard the teenager thought Mr Viner was trying to scare her mother with the knife when she saw him suddenly stab her in the chest and stomach.

"I heard Paul say, 'Look what you made me do'," she said.

Mrs Brough died instantly from four wounds, one of which severed a main artery, the jury was told.

The girl told her sister, then aged 12, to run upstairs, where she tried to barricade them into a bedroom.

"My hand was bleeding and there was a big pool of blood on the floor. I thought he was going to kill us as well," she said.

She called the police from a mobile phone. Mr Viner was found with stomach wounds after using the same knife in an unsuccessful attempt to kill himself, the court heard.

Mr Aubrey told the jury that the defendant did not like going out to pubs and clubs but Mrs Brough did.

"She would ask Viner to go with her but he was not interested. She would ask if he minded her going and he would say no.

"But he did mind - very much indeed," he said.