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A woman has been convicted of murdering her husband after she plunged a knife into his chest following a drunken argument.

John Carroll, who was knifed from behind without warning by Deborah Carroll at their home in Selly Oak, died 13 hours later.

A jury at Birmingham Crown found Deborah Carroll guilty of the charge after deliberating for over three days.

Judge Melbourne Inman QC adjourned sentence until tomorrow morning.

The court heard the couple had known each other for six years and had been married for four.

On April 1 last year the 52-year-old victim, who was in poor health due to alcoholism and smoking, had gone out drinking at a number of pubs with a friend in Harborne before returning to his home in Alwold Court, Barnes Hill.

Mr Carroll and his friend carried on drinking into the early hours before an argument started between him and his wife who had earlier been at a working men's club.

At one point things calmed down and the victim sat down in a chair when his wife suddenly approached him from behind and stabbed him a knife, she had taken from a block in the kitchen, in the left side of his chest in a downward motion.

(Image: BirminghamLive)

"There was nothing he could do in the circumstances to protect himself," said Michael Mather-Lees QC, prosecuting.

Mr Carroll suffered a deep wound which caused his left lung to collapse.

The defendant told the court that she only intended to "poke" the defendant with the knife and did not realise how far the blade had gone in.

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