Yahoo News Mother who stabbed husband to death is jailed for 14 years
A woman who killed her husband after he tried to stop her leaving the house to buy alcohol has been jailed for 14 years.
Helena Atay, 42, stabbed husband Atakan in the chest at their home in Gateshead, last October.
She was found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, on the grounds of lack of intent.
The pair had been married for almost 20 years.
The jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict.
Atay previously told Newcastle Crown Court she could not remember stabbing her Turkish-born businessman husband, and denied his murder.
She also claimed her husband had attacked her.
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During a trial, the court heard a In a 17-minute recording of her 999 call, where she was heard to say "I'm sorry" and also telling paramedics "we had a fight".
Mr Atay was stabbed just below a tattoo in memory of their daughter Sophie, who died from cancer aged three.
His wife previously told the court she began drinking when she suffered from postnatal depression after the birth of her first child.
Following the death of her second child and the birth of her third, she was drinking more than she ever had before - up to two bottles of wine every night - the jury heard.
The Atay family had gained national attention when fundraising for their late daughter Sophie's cancer treatment.
Prosecutors said she had previously sought help for alcoholism having had two car crashes while over the limit.
She had also threatened to bite the nose off a hospital security guard and bitten a nightclub doorman.
At sentencing, Judge Paul Sloan QC, presiding, told her: "You knew what you were doing.”
He added she had presented in court a “wicked distortion” of the truth.
In a statement released after the verdict, Mr Atay's family said: "He was made a victim because of his compassion and being a good person.
"He always wanted to do the right thing and that has cost him his life."
