A PREGNANT woman stabbed her partner twice in self defence after he flew into a drunken and violent rage.Laura Sampson was so scared by Constantine Xiarchos' behaviour that she stabbed him in the chest with nail scissors and in the leg with a kitchen knife.

A PREGNANT woman stabbed her partner twice in self defence after he flew into a drunken and violent rage.

Laura Sampson was so scared by Constantine Xiarchos' behaviour that she stabbed him in the chest with nail scissors and in the leg with a kitchen knife.

South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard that the stabbing followed a night of violence in which Xiarchos grabbed and hit his partner after drinking excessively.

On February 24, Miss Sampson and the defendant, described in court as a fitness fanatic, returned to their Gleneagles Road home in Ipswich after an evening at Riley's Snooker Hall in Princes Street in the town.

Xiarchos, 30, became abusive and began banging doors and head-butting walls.

The court was told Miss Sampson, six months pregnant at the time, tried to placate the defendant by cooking him a meal, but he threw it on the floor.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, said as Xiarchos grabbed his partner by the throat, she struck him in the chest while clutching a pair of nail scissors.

Mr Davies said Xiarchos then appeared with a kitchen knife and again held her by the throat before Miss Sampson pulled the knife away from him and lashed out, cutting Xiarchos' legs.

Xiarchos, who wept throughout the hearing, also bit and hit Miss Sampson before calling a cab and leaving.

The court heard the pair met last summer and began living together after Miss Sampson fell pregnant in August.

Because Xiarchos pleaded guilty to the charge of assault by beating he is in breach of a suspended sentence given for a different type of offence a year ago.

John Hughes, mitigating, said his client was deeply distressed at what had happened.

He claimed Xiarchos, who was advised by doctors not to drink excessively after his involvement in a serious road crash several years ago, could not recall the attack but pleaded guilty because he did not want to face a trial which could be upsetting for Miss Sampson.

Mr Hughes said: “He went off the rails that night and has very little recollection of what happened.

“But he has pleaded guilty because he does not want to put his girlfriend through a trial.

“The victim was arrested on suspicion of GBH but the defendant made it clear he was not prepared to give a statement because he did not want her to face any difficulty.”

Xiarchos will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court at a later date.