Wolverhampton killer Caroline Loweth jailed for murder
A woman has been jailed for life for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in the heart with an 8in-long chef's knife.
Caroline Loweth told emergency services John Fletcher had fallen on the blade while peeling vegetables, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
But a jury decided Loweth, 49, of Market Square, Wolverhampton, was guilty of murder.
The CPS said the 27 October attack was the culmination of "a considerable history of domestic violence."
The judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court told Loweth she will have to serve a minimum sentence of 17 years.
'Fuelled by alcohol'
West Midlands Police said Mr Fletcher had made complaints against Loweth on several occasions only to retract them or give a false account about how he suffered injuries.
Det Sgt Harry May said: "During this investigation it became quite clear that John Fletcher had suffered many extremely serious injuries at the hands of his partner. Fuelled by alcohol, Loweth would regularly lose her temper and stab John.
"In one of these attacks, John was stabbed through his bowel and had to undergo intensive surgery to save his life. The sad fact is that if he had followed through with these previous complaints he may still be alive."
He added: "Today our thoughts go out to John's family who are all devastated by his tragic murder. John was a good man who was loved by all who knew him and this has made his killing all the more difficult for them to deal with."
Speaking after the verdict, CPS spokesman Martin Lindop said: "The defendant and the victim had a troubled history between them which was mutually violent.
"Throughout this case, the defendant has maintained her innocence claiming that her partner had been using a knife to peel some vegetables and he fell on to it which then lodged itself into his chest.
"This was a blatant lie which Loweth had concocted in order to hide the crime that she had committed and today, following a trial, a jury has seen through her web of lies and found guilty of murdering John Fletcher."