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A labourer knifed her boyfriend to death in a violent late-night argument on the balcony of their apartment.

Clare McMahon, said to have been in a "violent abusive relationship", stabbed John Robinson in the neck, navel and back up to 30 times and then rang her boss Daniel McManus in tears.

"I just couldn't stop myself - I stabbed him all over," she allegedly told her employer and ex-boyfriend.

A court heard Mr McManus rushed to her second-floor apartment in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester where McMahon, 35, was in a state of "hysteria".

It is said Mr Robinson, 37, had come at her with a knife and stabbed her in the hand before she grabbed the weapon from him in the midnight fracas.

(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

Mr Robinson died at the scene and tests showed he sustained three wounds to the back including, one 12cm-deep wound which severed an artery and a wound to his throat which cut his windpipe in two.

McMahon admits killing her partner but denies murder. She claimed she suffered a form of "complex post-traumatic stress disorder" due to her being in a "violent abusive relationship."

Manchester Crown Court heard the couple had been in a relationship for at least three years but would argue often. One neighbour said they were "having words with each other" once a month.

Francis McEntee, prosecuting, said: "He [Mr McManus] said when he received the call from her just after midnight she sounded hysterical. She was saying something like 'I think I've killed him, I've stabbed him to death'.

"She told him she was covered in blood and when he got her to calm down a little, she said that Mr Robinson had stabbed her in the hand and she had taken the knife from him.

(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

"She went on to say 'I've stabbed him, I just couldn't stop myself'. When asked about where she had stabbed him, she told Mr McManus that she has 'stabbed him all over.'

"Mr McManus arranged to collect the defendant and will confirm, that when he collected her she seemed very stressed. He persuaded her that she should return to the address and tell the police what had happened.

"He was the first to find Mr Robinson's body and he could see there was blood in the bed and a bit sprayed up the wall and on the door. He also say a large silver knife on the bed, which he estimated to be 10 inches long, and a second knife that was black and was about six-inches long."

Neighbours told the jury they saw Robinson pressing McMahon against the railing of the balcony moments before the altercation on May 23.

Lisa Hayes called out to her to ask if she was OK but got no reply and subsequently saw Robinson standing near the balcony door and making a "gasping noise."

(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

Simon Hilton, another neighbour, heard the argument coming from the balcony and saw the pair struggling.

"Mr Hilton did not see any blood on either of them and possibly because he saw the defendant first, he asked her: 'what's he done now?' She replied 'I've stabbed him, Si.' and he then realised both Mr Robinson and his girlfriend were covered in blood," Mr McEntee added.

It's said McMahon herself 999 and when the ambulance call handler asked "is the patient breathing?"

She replied: "No, I stabbed him, I need the police, I need everything, he's attacked me as well".

She added: "I don't know, I can't get near him, I think he's lost a lot of blood". The handler said: "I need to know if he is breathing?" and McMahon added: "just a little bit, no I think he's gone". The call was then disconnected.

McMahon was later arrested whilst she was sat in Mr McManus' van and a knife was found on a concrete path below the balcony.

(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

The prosecutor said: "Clare McMahon told Daniel McManus that John Robinson had stabbed her in the hand before she had taken the knife and stabbed him. She stated that she picked up the knife after John Robinson had dropped it and she told the police she could only remember that she lunged at him once with the knife.

"The defendant had sustained a significant injury to her fingers on her right hand and superficial cuts to her left hand. However those injuries pale into significance in comparison to the 30 knife inflicted injuries sustained by John Robinson.

"The evidence paints a picture of a fully extensive assault and we suggest she was using more than one knife. The assault commenced in the bedroom and she selected a further weapon from the kitchen after which she repeated the attack which was finalised on the balcony.

"She will contend that she had lost control and that her loss of control was due to the fear of serious violence from John Robinson. But we say that, having inflicted a life ending injury to Mr Robinson's throat, the defendant chose to select a further weapon to continue to deliver further devastating stab wounds. It was a sustained and determined attack."

The trial continues.