Husband who stabbed his wife while she was calming her baby was arrested

A former councilor has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for stabbing his wife three times while she was soothing their baby.

Darren Brown, 35, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury after stabbing his wife Corinne at their home in Wildmill, Bridgend, on July 10 last year.

Mr Brown was an independent member of Bridgend City Council until he resigned two months after the attack.

The judge said it was a “brutal and sustained attack with a knife”.

Brown, a former member of Bridgend Council for the Morfa ward, separated from his wife but continued to live on the same property.

During the trial, the court heard the pair argued because Mrs Brown had “lost her love for him”, the argument woke the baby and when Corinne Brown went to calm the child down, she was stabbed in the back.

In a victim impact statement, Corinne Brown said: “I can still replay every second in my mind.

“I can still feel the pain from where Darren stabbed me,” he said. “I know Darren tried to kill me that night.

“Fortunately, my children did not witness anything that night and are too young to understand what happened.”

He said he knew one day he would have to sit them down and explain them.

She said she had been “hurt physically and mentally by Darren” and that she had helped her children get through “this terrible time”.

In sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said Mr Brown “became withdrawn and controlling” after the pair broke up.

He said Ms Brown’s new partner was a “source of resentment” for him, which led him to plant secret recording equipment in the separate room where she slept.

On the night of the attack, Judge Jenkins said Ms Brown begged him to stop.

“She was in no position to defend herself when she put the dummy in her child’s mouth,” he said, adding that he stabbed her twice and then chased her into the bathroom to stab her again.

Judge Jenkins said Brown fled the scene “leaving your wife on the bathroom floor with serious injuries” and “carried out a brutal and sustained attack with a knife which you deliberately used”.

“Stabbing him in the back on three separate occasions was the ultimate cowardice.”

“Your intention to kill him was clear,” he added.

Darren Brown was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with at least two-thirds of that time in custody, before being released on licence.

An indefinite restraining order was also put in place, preventing Mr Brown from contacting Corinne Brown or attending her work or other premises where he stayed or lived.

Det Insp Owain Morrison, of South Wales Police, said: “The audio recording proved to be crucial evidence in the case as it corroborated the victim’s account and some of the key facts he mentioned during the interview, including the suspect kicking, could be heard on the recording. The victim took refuge in the bathroom after taking shelter there.” The door was opened.”

He added that the sentence showed that the force would “relentlessly pursue those who commit violence against women and girls and bring them to justice.”

Hannah West, of the CPS, said: “Any of the wounds could have been fatal and the evidence we presented to the jury showed Brown’s intention was to kill his wife.”

She added that she hoped she would “be relieved to know that her husband has been brought to justice for this horrific attack.”