A WOMAN has been jailed for life today for the murder of her partner in Gomersal who she stabbed once in the heart in a “flash of temper”.

Michelle Spencer had previously claimed the fatal injury to father of two David Butterfield was accidental but changed her plea to guilty at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday accepting a momentary loss of temper when she was holding a kitchen knife.

Ordering Spencer to serve a minimum of 13 years in prison minus 142 days spent on remand before she can apply for parole, Mr Justice Soole said: “You have now finally accepted that you deliberately stabbed Mr Butterfield.”

“Your basis of plea states that you cannot recall what passed between you and him before you did so, but that you were angry with him. You say that he was complaining about how his wages had not gone into his account.”

The judge said he accepted she did not intend to kill him but: “This was an utterly unprovoked assault with a knife on your innocent partner.

“In a sudden outburst of unreasoned anger you deliberately stabbed him once and with very considerable force, causing his almost immediate death.”

Hairdresser Spencer, 48, a mother of two, admitted murdering Mr Butterfield at their home in Shirley Terrace on January 13. He was 43 and also a father of two.

Simon Waley, prosecuting, said the couple had been together for around 16 months prior to the incident and had a close relationship. “It is also right to say inquiries during the course of the investigation revealed a number of witnesses who gave evidence of the fact they had seen injuries on the deceased during the course of the relationship and had heard accounts from Mr Butterfield about how he had received those injuries.”

That included saying they had seen bruising particularly to his nose “and they had received accounts from him they were at the hands of the defendant.”

She was also alleged to have punched him on one occasion.

The judge stressed he could only take into account “what has been proved or admitted.”

Michelle Colborne QC, representing Spencer, said she had struggled to come to terms with the fact “a minor disturbance resulted in this shocking act.”

“The fact she could do this to a man who apart from her children she loved most in the world.”

Spencer described Mr Butterfield as the “kindest, most loving man.” She was genuinely remorseful. “

Speaking afterwards, Detective Inspector Ben McDonald, from Protective Services Crime, said: “As a result of diligent and meticulous inquiries by the Police investigation team, a violent woman has been brought to justice.”