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Wife tells jury she was ‘shocked and scared’ as husband Stephen Bangs accused of trying to kill her at The Pheasant in Ashford

A jury has heard how a wife recalled the moment she was stabbed in the back and says her husband said he wanted to kill her.

Pub landlord Stephen Bangs is on trial for attempted murder following the incident at The Pheasant pub in Ashford where he lived with Yadasuphak Bangs.

Ashford pub landlord Stephen Bangs is accused of attempting to murder his wife Yadasuphak Bangs. Picture: Facebook
Ashford pub landlord Stephen Bangs is accused of attempting to murder his wife Yadasuphak Bangs. Picture: Facebook

The 62-year-old, who was landlord at the boozer, maintains the incident on August 18 last year was an accident after he tripped over a dog toy lying on the floor which left Mrs Bangs with a 2.5cm-long wound.

She told police in a video recorded interview played to jurors at Canterbury Crown Court today: "I felt something hit my back and I didn't know what. I thought he was playing with me. We always just play.

"I just felt like something has hit my back so hard. I wanted to turn back (and say) 'What you doing?' I saw (the) knife in his hand and then I was just shocked.

"I don't know what happen, because we are not fighting or had a problem. We smile, we laugh, in the morning.

"I saw the knife in his hand and I say 'What you doing?' and he say 'I want to kill you'. I say 'No, no. no'. I'm just shocked. My brain was just shocked.

Bangs maintains the incident was an accident and he was not trying to kill his wife. Picture: Facebook
Bangs maintains the incident was an accident and he was not trying to kill his wife. Picture: Facebook

"I started to get the knife from him....I pushed him out. I got the knife from him. He just called me (by) my name, like 'Joy' Joy'.

"I was just calling the people outside to help me because the window was open and he just ran off...I was just screaming 'Help, help'.

"People outside started to hear me and started to come and try to help me. I said 'Help, help. I want to get out the window."

Mrs Bangs described herself as being "scared and panicked".

"He just say 'I want to kill you'. That's what I heard from him. I was just shocked and I didn't know I had got stabbed in my back because I was not feeling anything. I wasn't feeling hurt," she told officers.

"I can't remember how I got the knife but I just tried to get it from him. I just tried to push him out from the kitchen.

Bangs claims he tripped on a dog toy on the floor in their kitchen. Picture: Facebook
Bangs claims he tripped on a dog toy on the floor in their kitchen. Picture: Facebook

"I was just very scared. This has never happened to me in my life with Steve together, almost 10 years. I just don't know what happened."

The court heard she had taken their dog Tigger on a 20-minute walk before returning to their flat above the pub and starting to wash up.

Mrs Bangs said she did all the housework and her husband, if he cooked for himself, would leave his utensils in the sink for her.

She recalled seeing him sitting in a chair in the living room on his phone as she went into the kitchen.

"I just wanted to finish cleaning. I don't know when he walked in the kitchen or do something behind me. I couldn't see," Mrs Bangs continued.

"I never had in my brain, in my head, that he would do it. He is not the person who can kill someone....I just hear him say he want to kill me.

Mrs Bangs told a jury she felt scared and shocked. Picture: Facebook
Mrs Bangs told a jury she felt scared and shocked. Picture: Facebook

"I was just shocked and scared....I panicked and he panicked as well."

The court heard the couple first began chatting online in April 2013 and then met in person the following month.

Mrs Bangs said her husband "loved" Thailand and that it was like "a second home" for him.

Speaking about their first face-to-face meeting, she told police: "Everything was perfect. He just be nice to me from the first day.

"He just different to other men I met before. He just gentleman...He support me and help me and everything. He never hit me. He never said something bad to me."

Describing the ex Royal Marine who served in the Falklands as "friendly and nice", Mrs Bangs continued: "He was always the same, he never changed. Just on that day. Something happened."

Stephen and Yadasuphak Bangs
Stephen and Yadasuphak Bangs

But she admitted she could not be certain he had meant what he did, telling officers: "Because there was no reason. We don't have any problems with money. We don't fight."

The jury was told Bangs ran the pub while his wife worked for him. He also controlled their money and joint bank account, said Mrs Bangs.

On the day of the alleged murder bid, the couple had an appointment in Reading in respect of a property her husband owned.

"He told me I have to go sign some documents because he wanted to get the money from the rent for his flat," she told the jury.

Asked by the prosecutor if her husband ever spoke to her about his experiences in the Falklands War, Mrs Bangs said he simply told her he had served there.

When questioned as to how Bangs coped with stress, she added: "He never say anything. He just kept everything to himself.

"I don't know if he ever talked to other people or not but he never talked to me when he had something unhappy."

The court heard there had been no previous violent incidents between the couple.

Mrs Bangs refuted during cross-examination by Daniel Cohen, defending Bangs, that his client had "sheepishly" placed his pan over her shoulder and into the sink as she washed up.

She told the court: "He left everything in the sink before I came back from the dog walk. Everything was in the sink already.

"I have never let him do anything about housework. I'm the person who does everything. I just don't want him to do any housework.

"Every time when he finishes cooking his food, he leaves everything in the sink. I don't have to tell him."

The trial continues.

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