Husband jailed after wife forgives him for stabbing her 13 times

A husband who stabbed his wife 13 times in front of their two young children was jailed for seven-and-a-half years today after she forgave him.

Sadacharalingham Satheeswaran, 37, admitted attempted murder after attacking wife Sugantha, 29, following a row in July in Southall, west London.

Their seven-year-old daughter and two-year-old son screamed as they were spattered in blood and their mother begged their father not to kill her.

Satheeswaran, a Sri Lankan kitchen assistant, had wanted to take the children to France with him and the pair had also argued over money, the Old Bailey heard.

During the attack his wife pretended to be dead so he would stop stabbing her and afterwards he told the children: "Your mother has died, so you don't need to cry."

Police found her face down on the blood-soaked bed.

She had suffered multiple stab wounds including injuries to the neck and face, and underwent emergency surgery for a collapsed lung, but has now recovered.

Her husband later walked into a police station and said: "I have come here for arresting. I have done a dirty thing."

In a statement his wife, who was in court, said he used to hit her but added: "He made me happy and looked after me. I want him to come out for the kids' sake."

Benjamin Squirrell, defending, said: "She asks that the court be merciful."

Judge Peter Beaumont, the Recorder of London, said the starting point for the sentence was 12 years.

But he reduced the term because of the defendant's guilty plea, adding: "You have no previous convictions and you have earned your wife's forgiveness."