Emma-Jayne Magson guilty of murdering boyfriend
- Published
A woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death during an argument has been found guilty of murder for a second time.
Emma-Jayne Magson, from Leicester, was previously convicted of murdering James Knight and given a life sentence, but her conviction was quashed.
During a retrial she alleged Mr Knight had been strangling her, so she stabbed him with a steak knife in self-defence.
Magson maintained she never intended to kill or seriously harm her boyfriend - but jurors rejected her account.
'Grab something'
Her appeal was assisted by Justice For Women - the same campaign group which helped Sally Challen appeal her conviction for murdering her abusive husband with a hammer.
Magson had denied murdering Mr Knight at her first trial claiming it was self-defence, but was jailed for life in 2016.
However, in January 2020, the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial after hearing new psychiatric evidence showing the defence of diminished responsibility would have been available to Magson at her first trial.
Magson did not give evidence during the first trial but did during the second.
"He [Mr Knight] had his hand around my neck," she said.
"It was all very fast. I had a rush of pins and needles and he was just really tight on my neck so I thought 'grab something, let's get him off me'."
Mr Knight's mother had to leave the courtroom during Magson's evidence after she shouted out at Magson, calling her "a liar".
Magson stabbed Mr Knight at her home in Sylvan Street in the early hours of 27 March 2016, after they had both returned from a night out.
The trial, at Birmingham Crown Court, heard the couple had got together about six months earlier.
Magson claimed 26-year-old Mr Knight had been abusive to her, while the prosecution said she was the aggressor in the relationship.
She had been out with friends in Leicester on the night Mr Knight died, and met up with him in a bar.
A taxi driver who drove the couple home said they were arguing in the taxi and Magson kicked Mr Knight, so he asked them to get out.
CCTV played to jurors then appeared to show Mr Knight pushing her over in the street after they got out of the taxi.
Magson accepted she stabbed Mr Knight, who had a single wound to his heart.
Evidence from pathologists said the single stab wound would have caused him to bleed internally to begin with, and he may not have realised he had been stabbed as it would have felt like a punch.
He walked down Sylvan Street towards his brother's house and collapsed, but his brother then helped Magson carry him back to her house, not realising his brother was gravely injured.
The trial heard how Magson phoned 999 seeking help for Mr Knight, but did not say she had stabbed him.
When told an ambulance might be delayed, Magson said: "No, that's fine, don't worry about it."
Magson was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 to two.
Mr Justice Jeremy Baker told her she would be remanded in custody to be sentenced for a second time on 29 March.
She will be given a life sentence but the judge will need to decide how long to set the minimum term, meaning the time before she becomes eligible for parole.