A WOMAN who fatally stabbed her abusive husband with a knife she was using to make him a sandwich was jailed for more than three years today.

Kimberley Flintoft, 32, of Kirkham Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, stabbed Lee Flintoft in the heart after he attacked her in their home in July 2009.

She pleaded guilty to manslaughter by way of provocation after admitting she lost both her temper and self-control following a volatile 16-year relationship.

She was sentenced to 40 months in jail at Leeds Crown Court today.

The court heard the couple would become aggressive after they had been drinking.

During their relationship, Flintoft suffered violence and demands for sex from her husband and she admitted being verbally nasty and aggressive to him.

Andrew Robertson QC, prosecuting, said: "The general view of those that knew the couple was that they loved each other but that they fought frequently."

On the night of the killing, both had been out and were more than twice the legal drink-drive limit when they returned home, where Mr Flintoft, 39, said he was hungry and demanded food.

As Flintoft used a knife to cut bread rolls for sandwiches for him, her husband went to strike her in the face, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head.

Mr Robertson said: "She accordingly lost both her temper and self-control and retaliated by deliberately stabbing him in the chest with the knife."

The court heard that Flintoft immediately called the emergency services and admitted she had stabbed her husband after he attacked her.

A medical examination showed she had injuries which were consistent with her story.

Sentencing Flintoft today, Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC, said the degree of provocation was substantial, happening over a period of years, rather than months.

"You were making sandwiches for him and it was while you were doing that he came in and you say he assaulted you," he said. "It was a long way from being the first time."

The judge continued: "At that moment, you snapped and all that had happened over the years welled up and erupted in a moment when you stabbed him with one downward thrust."

He added: "You lost your self-control when he attacked you and you lost it because of his conduct towards you during the preceding years."

Judge Collier spoke of the domestic violence between the couple, who met when Flintoft was 15 or 16 and married in 2006, and said the defendant was locked in an abusive relationship.

"Everyone who knew the two of you agrees that, over the years, it appeared to be a volatile relationship.

"The two of you drank to excess and, in drink, there was often violence between the two of you," he said.

"The undoing of you both was the love you had for each other which kept bringing you back together."

Blonde Flintoft, who wore black trousers, a white shirt and a black cardigan, fought back tears as Judge Collier told her she would serve half her sentence before being released on licence.

Following the sentencing, Mr Flintoft's family released a statement through police in which they said the couple had a love-hate relationship.

Reading the statement, Detective Chief Inspector Dai Malyn, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "This is a sad loss of a loving son, brother, father, uncle and friend who was taken away from us all at a young age.

"Lee and Kimberley lived a life of domestic abuse which we have all said was a love-hate relationship.

"But Lee, being the man, would never report abuse against him to the police and now it's too late.

"This is a terrible waste of life that has left a massive void in our family, never to be replaced."