AN Ebbw Vale woman is today facing prison and being separated from her three-year-old son after admitting stabbing her boyfriend to death in a drink-fuelled row.

Last night, neighbours described the couple's stormy relationship.

Amanda Edwards, 28, (pictured) stabbed boyfriend Stuart Price through the heart during a row at their Ebbw Vale home on November 4, Cardiff crown court heard yesterday.

People who lived near the couple in Wordsworth Close, Hilltop, told the Argus that they believed the couple had been together for around a year.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "I heard they had a very volatile relationship."

Others added that Edwards, who has a three-year-old son, had always seemed a "fun-loving and happy-go-lucky" person.

Edwards pleaded not guilty to murder yesterday, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

Mr Justice Christopher Pitchford granted bail to Edwards, who is currently living in Kingston-on-Thames.

Among the conditions are a 7pm to 7am curfew, daily reporting to a police station, a ban on her returning to South Wales and not to drink alcohol.

He said that allowing her bail would allow her to make arrangements for herself and her son.

The judge said: "It is very unusual for anyone in your position to be granted bail."

He said she needed to prepare herself and her son for a period of separation, and adjourned the case to a date to be fixed.

Another neighbour of Mrs Edw-ards said last night it was sad that she is set to be separated from her child.

In court yesterday, prosecutor John Jenkins, QC, said he had had discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service and the police, who had also consulted the dead man's family.

Mr Jenkins said: "In the circumstances we regard the guilty plea to manslaughter as a proper one."

He said there was no doubt there had been a great deal of violence in the relationship in the past on both sides.

Edwards delivered a single blow with a kitchen knife to 30-year-old Mr Price, Mr Jenkins said.

The court heard that on November 4 evidence indicated there had initially been a disturbance upstairs in the house at Wordsworth Close in which a great deal of property was broken.

A mobile phone was smashed, curtains were pulled down, and a telephone connection box was broken.

Mr Jenkins said: "There had been a serious drunken quarrel. "She had a minor injury to the face and bruising to her arms. She had tenderness to the head, throat and chin from an alleged attack."

The quarrel, he added, got completely out of hand.

Defence counsel David Aubrey, QC, said a psychiatric report about Edwards was available but he wanted another one and a pre-sentence report. She was seeing a doctor and a counsellor, he added.