THE son of a woman who stabbed her husband to death says her family are "pulling together" to come to terms with the tragedy.

Yesterday, the Argus reported how mother-of-five Anne-Marie Hayward was jailed for two years for killing her husband.

The court heard how her family - and her husband's relatives - have forgiven her for stabbing him to death, writing "poignant" letters as court references for her.

Speaking on behalf of the family yesterday, son Mark Hayward, issued a brief statement saying: "As a family we are extremely strong as a unit, and are trying to get through this together."

Hayward, of Llanthewy Road, Newport, stabbed her husband John in the chest after a drinking session in the early hours of November 26.

The court heard that when Hayward realised what she had done she telephoned for an ambulance.

She later told police: "I've killed him. I have to live with this for the rest of my life and I don't believe I have done this terrible thing."

Hayward, a security officer with Newport council, pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

This plea was accepted by the prosecution.

The judge, Mr Justice Thomas, told the defendant: "Last November in circumstances no-one will ever fully know, you killed your husband of 31 years by a single stab wound which penetrated his lung and heart, inflicted by a carving knife.

"I accept you picked up the knife intending to frighten him. What then happened, no-one will ever know."

The court heard that Mr Hayward was found face down in the kitchen in a pool of blood.

The couple had five children aged from 15 to 31. Patrick Harrington, QC, defending, produced several references for defendant Hayward including "poignant letters" from her children and her husband's family who had shown "a quality of forgiveness", one of which indicated that he had loved her with "great passion".

Mr Harrington said: "What happened was something that could never be anticipated. It was tragic.

"Not only has the life of a man been lost but the family is suffering the tragedy of knowing that the person responsible was the mother of five children.

"She will grieve for the rest of her life."