A DRUNKEN row over a chicken bone came to a head when a woman plunged a knife into her partner's chest in front of her two children.

Maria Platts grabbed the knife after her partner joked about putting the bone on her dinner plate knowing it would play on her phobia.

The 38-year-old warned him that she would stab him before he said 'go on then' believing the pair were just having 'banter', Teesside Crown Court heard.

The mother-of two, who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcoholism, attacked her partner of six years and rammed the blade into his chest.

Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting, said her victim pulled the knife out of his chest before going upstairs and calling his mother for help.

The court heard the victim was taken to hospital by his mother where he required emergency surgery and needed two litres of blood through transfusion before being in intensive care overnight.

Platts, formerly of Eldon Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent following the stabbing on January 12 this year.

Her barrister, Nicholas Askins, said Platt had moved out of the area and was now receiving treatment for her addiction and PTSD in Goole.

Mr Askins said in police interview the victim told officers that he was aware that his partner had a phobia of bones and she had got upset about a recent incident in the home before joking about doing it again.

"He (the victim) said he thought it was just banter and messing about," he said. "Whatever the trigger for her actions were, there was a trigger but what she did was an overreaction."

Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Platts to 20 months in custody, suspended for two years.

He said: "In most cases of this type, a judge would consider that the only appropriate punishment would be prison.

"Your case is not a usual case, these were some unusual circumstances."