An angry husband thrust a kitchen knife deep into his wife's body before stabbing her again in the back, a jury heard.

Dorinel Cojanu, 30, is alleged to have tried to murder his wife Daniela, 28, in the kitchen of their Watford home.

The brown-handled kitchen knife, with an eight inch blade, went down through her right breast, passed through two ribs, through a lung and into her liver, St Albans Crown Court was told.

The mother of three bent forward and was stabbed again just under her left shoulder blade.

"She was lucky. No major arteries were cut," said prosecutor David Matthew.

She ran screaming from the house in Lingmoor Drive in Watford. A neighbour called an ambulance and she was rushed to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

Romanian Dorinel Cojanu pleads not guilty to attempted murder and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm on Tuesday, June 16 this year.

He is aided in court by a Romanian interpreter.

Giving evidence behind a screen Daniela Cojanu, who was also aided by a Romanian interpreter, told the jury she and her husband came to the UK in June last year.

She, her husband and their three children, along with her brother moved into the Lingmoor Drive house two months later.

She said: "Financially things were not too well. Dorinel found refuge in alcohol. He did not treat me well. No matter what the problem would be, it would always be my fault.

"It went beyond argument. He would hit me or we would have arguments because of the financial difficulties and because he was spending a lot of money on alcohol."

The day before she was stabbed said she got her father-in-law to call out the police to their home.

On Tuesday, June 16 she said she went to the Citizens' Advice Bureau to ask for help as she wanted a divorce.

Asked by Mr Matthew if she had spoken to her husband about a divorce, she said: "I have mentioned this occasionally while we were fighting.

"I said unless he changed, things could not carry on. He did not like it. He told me once or twice when I asked for a divorce that it would be my last day."

When she returned home she said she went to the kitchen. She said: "He followed me and he was arguing with me.

"He was saying I should move out and that social services will come and take the children away from me. He asked for my contribution to the rent. He knew I was not earning."

She said she believed he looked into her bag in the hall and he found an appointment letter from the CAB.

She told the four women and eight men she was cleaning the hob when: "He came back and I heard a noise and he took something like a piece of cutlery from the draining board.

"I was facing towards the hob and when I heard the noise I slightly turned around towards him.

"That is when he cut me. It was a kitchen knife. Everything was very quick. It was the knife I would use very often in the kitchen.

"He cut me on my chest on my right breast. It did not feel that strong.

"I did not expect him to do that and I didn't feel a very sharp pain, but when he took the knife out there was a lot of blood coming out and I was scared.

"I put my hand on the wound and I leaned over the hob. That is when he hit me in the back. That was very strong. I screamed and that was when I realised I had to escape from the house - to run away.

"He didn't say anything. He left the kitchen. I realised I had to run and ask for help."

Dorinel Cojanu was arrested at the scene. In an interview, he told the police his wife had caused the injuries herself and that she had tried to stab him.

The trial continues.