A daughter who killed her bullying and abusive father has been cleared of murder and manslaughter after a jury accepted she acted in self defence.

Jessica Breeze, 20, admitted stabbing Colin Brady, 49, with the longest kitchen knife in the house in June last year.

The knife penetrated his left lung to a depth of 18cm.

Miss Breeze wept as she was found not guilty of the charges after a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

The nursery worker and her mother Kelly were at home in Middlesbrough when Mr Brady flew into a rage.


He attacked his daughter and then his partner when she tried to intervene.

Both women said Mr Brady punched and spat at them before threatening to kill them both.

Miss Breeze, who was 19 at the time, grabbed a knife and plunged it into his back.

She told the jury: "I didn't want him to die, I just wanted him to stop."

She had been one digit away from dialling 999 moments before she killed Mr Brady.

Miss Breeze was trying to alert police when Mr Brady demanded she hand over the phone.

She told the court she had earlier tried to flee from the locked house by jumping from an upstairs window but he grabbed her and started to strangle her on the bed.

The prosecution claimed she stabbed him in the back as he was leaving the house.

Miss Breeze told jurors she could not remember fatally stabbing her father.

Paramedics took Mr Brady to the nearby James Cook University Hospital but he could not be saved.

Judge Stephen Ashurt told Miss Breeze after she was cleared: "In the light of the jury's verdicts you are now free to leave the building."

She was embraced by some family members in the public gallery, but other relatives left the courtroom in tears.

Miss Breeze told reporters: "I'm just happy that it's over."

She said the last seven months had been "horrible" and that she had got through it with the help of friends and family.

Mr Brady had a history of domestic violence and previous convictions, including grievous bodily harm with intent, the trial heard.