A WOMAN brought up in Somerset broke down in tears after being cleared of killing her violent boyfriend following a late night row.

Elizabeth Hart-Browne, 27, was hysterical and declared ‘I have just killed the man I love’ after plunging a large kitchen knife into Stephen Rayner’s neck at their flat in Acton, west London.

She denied murdering the 25-year-old call centre worker in a champagne-fuelled fury, saying she believed he was going to kill her as he had threatened to do in the past.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for 15 hours to find the mother-of-two not guilty of murder following a six-week trial.

Giving evidence in court, mother-of-two Elizabeth Hart-Browne told of her troubled childhood growing up in West Somerset.

She lived with extended family in Washford and Porlock in her teenage years before eventually moving to Bournemouth where she met Mr Rayner.

Hart-Browne told jurors Mr Rayner was violent towards her and sometimes took on the persona of his idol, Britain’s most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson, when he got angry.

The court heard a row had erupted after Miss Hart-Browne came home from a family party on the evening of September 17 last year.
According to Miss Hart-Browne, Mr Rayner began hitting her and grabbed her by the throat.

With young children sleeping just feet away, she picked up a large kitchen knife and stabbed Mr Rayner three times, inflicting a fatal wound to the neck, the court heard.

The victim staggered outside and collapsed in a pool of blood as shocked neighbours rushed to help.

Meanwhile, Miss Hart-Browne said she panicked and went back to clean the knife and clear up blood around the television.

Miss Hart-Browne, who was barefoot and wearing only one earring, was hysterical as she told police: “I didn’t mean to do it, I’m so sorry. I have just killed the man I love.”

The prosecution alleged she lied about accidentally injuring her boyfriend after picking up the knife to defend herself.

But giving evidence over a number of days, Miss Hart-Browne told jurors she had always been truthful about what happened and at the time she had believed Mr Rayner was going to kill her.

Jurors were told of the couple’s volatile six-year relationship, during which Mr Rayner had attacked the defendant many times.

Miss Hart-Browne walked free from the Old Bailey and her legal team said it was ‘pleased’ with the verdict.