TWO traumatised kids have revealed their heartbreak after their drunk mum knifed their dad to death in a fit of rage as they played Fortnite.

Natasha Welsh, 43, plunged a 15cm titanium kitchen knife into 47-year-old Martin's chest after a series of booze-fuelled "Fight Nights" at their home in Hendon, north London.

4 Natasha Welsh, 43, stabbed Martin, 47, with a 15cm kitchen knife. She's pictured above with his blood on her face Credit: PA:Press Association

4 Welsh had been drinking a cocktail of beer, wine and spirits throughout the evening when she lodged a blade 15cm-deep in her husband’s lung and aorta Credit: PA:Press Association

The mum was caged for life, for at least 15 years at the Old Bailey today, for stabbing her IT worker husband to death in his lung and aorta while their son was upstairs playing Fortnite.

She was convicted of murder on April 8.

Kyle Welsh, 21, was on his PS4 in his bedroom playing Fortnite online with his sister Charley, 23, and her boyfriend John Morris when he heard his dad scream: "She has stabbed me".

He broke the news to his sister over PS4's messaging system at 11.24pm on October 26 last year, saying: "Call 999, mum has stabbed dad and he is dead please, please, please."

A few moments later he added: "Please, he is dead by now and I am going to kill her.

"He is flat on the kitchen floor. Please send an ambulance."

Welsh had been drinking a cocktail of beer, wine and spirits throughout the evening.

Her husband was pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of the next morning.

BLOOD ON FACE

She was found with Martin's blood smeared across her face and dripping down her chin.

The killer sobbed in the witness box as she accepted inflicting the fatal stab wound, but Welsh told jurors she could not remember doing it.

In a moving victim impact statement, her daughter Charley said her mum was "not a bad woman", and she "just has a lot of issues" she needed to sort out.

Charley said that she and Kyle "both feel like we have lost two parents and not one".

"This was a tragic accident that never should have happened.

"We always said they should have split; the relationship was toxic."

Despite Welsh saying that she couldn't remember the fatal stabbing, Charley described clinging on to the hope that one day she would eventually be able to recall details, "even if for me and my brother".

Charley's aunt, Mary Rose Welsh, similarly paid tribute to the "much loved son, brother, father and friend" whose death was "like a nuclear bomb going off in the heart of the family".

Judge Alexia Durran jailed Martin's killer for life this afternoon, ordering her to serve at least 15 years behind bars before she can be considered for parole.

This was a tragic accident that never should have happened. We always said they should have split; the relationship was toxic. Daughter, Charley Welsh

She told Welsh: "Both of your children and your mother described the marriage in the latter years as toxic.

"You were both drinking heavily and consuming cannabis, and as a result of those substances you would argue and at times those arguments could turn violent.

"You gave evidence before me that Martin belittled you and on occasion he was violent to you.

"In my judgement, you exaggerated the extent of the violence Martin used towards you.

"I accept and prefer the evidence of Kyle and Charley who both said it would be you who would be the instigator of the violence when you were both in drink."

"Such was the regularity of the arguments that would start that the family appeared to call Friday night 'Fight Night'."

The judge said it was "reasonable to conclude" that Welsh "in a high degree of intoxication and anger picked up a kitchen knife from the block" and plunged it into her husband's chest.

Despite accepting that she now regrets the spontaneous decision, Judge Durran ruled she nevertheless intended to cause him grievous bodily harm (GBH) when she did it.



"SHE HAS STABBED ME"

Jurors heard that earlier that evening, Kyle Welsh messaged his sister and her boyfriend saying: "Things kicking off. How do I avoid it even with my music on?"

Later he said: "Those d**kheads need to learn how to handle their alcohol. Smashing s**t up."

Giving evidence, he broke down in tears as he told the court: "I heard my dad shout: 'She has stabbed me,' but it was like a groaning tone.

"He did swear. He said: "She has 'f*****g stabbed me'.

"I took my headset off and I listened, and I could not hear anything, so I went downstairs. That is when I walked into the kitchen.

"Mum was in the middle of the kitchen. She was like crouch-sitting. Dad was lying on his back. I said: 'What the f**k have you done?' to my mother.

"She did not reply to me at that point. He did not say anything he could barely breath. He had a stab wound to his right shoulder.

"There was a knife on the floor in between him and the washing machine.

"It was from a knife block set he had in the kitchen - a titanium set.

"I got up and I asked my mum where the phone was. I asked her again and she said it was on the side, but it was not there.

"CALL 999"

"I ran upstairs to obviously message because it was the only thing I thought of at that moment."

Within minutes he was typing: "Call 999 mum stabbed dad and he died. Please, please, please, please."

Welsh told jurors her marriage "got worse" over the years following the births of their children, with the couple descending into increased alcohol and drug use.

She said that Martin gave her little help in looking after their son and would regularly put her down and assault her during arguments.

Describing her drinking habits by last year, Welsh said: "It was very bad. Once I started, I didn't stop."

Jurors heard the pair would sometimes have drunken fights, with Welsh claiming her husband would occasionally punch her or push her down the stairs.

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Welsh said she went to the doctors for some of the injuries he inflicted, saying she fell over the dog or tripped in the garden because she was too "ashamed" and "embarrassed" to tell them the real cause.

Asked how much of the family's money was "being spent on booze and drugs", she added: "All of it."

When her barrister, Peter Wilcock QC, asked if Welsh was able to explain why she killed her husband, she replied: "I don't know. I am devastated that this has happened. I am numb."

4 Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Natasha Welsh appearing in court at the Old Bailey, London Credit: PA:Press Association