Husband stabbed in the back THREE times by his wife when he decided to leave his abusive marriage

It was a marriage that a court of law deemed ‘doomed to fail’. Simon Smith was in the navy, and trained to defend,

but when it came to his wife Crystal, he was struggling to protect himself.

As her temper grew throughout their six-year relationship, Simon’s confidence slowly eroded. When he finally found the strength to pack his bags to leave, Crystal crept upstairs with an eight-inch kitchen knife in her hand…

Simon and Crystal Smith lived in Gosport, Hampshire with their four-year-old daughter. Simon, 30, was a Leading Seaman in the Royal Navy and had been with his probation-worker wife Crystal for six years. But their marriage was blighted by domestic abuse – from Crystal.

Crystal was volatile. She controlled Simon’s finances and bullied him by threatening to take their daughter away if he ever left her. Little things could trigger her temper – from losing a board game to a bad-tasting gravy.