THE family of a man who was stabbed to death by his girlfriend have spoken of their relief after a jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against his killer.

Yesterday, the jury cleared Natasha Elderfield, 41, of murdering Robert Dobinson after two days of deliberating, but convicted her of the lesser charge.

The prosecution alleged Elderfield stabbed Mr Dobinson in the heart during a drunken row on her boat on the River Thames, in Abingdon, on October 19 last year.

Mr Dobinson, known locally as Raggy Smith, was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, but died later that evening.

Elderfield admitted there was a heated argument when the 33-yearold walked in on her and her lover Tony Steggles, but denied murder.

The jury was told by prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson that she picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her partner in the heart during the row.

He died from a single stab wound which had penetrated his chest between 10 and 12cm.

Elderfield told the court she did not realise she had the knife in her hand when she tried to push Mr Dobinson out of the boat.

The victim's mother Violet said: “It has been very stressful having to come to court every day but what we were mainly here for was to get justice for Robert which we have managed to do.

“We did want the murder verdict but having the manslaughter verdict was still good because she will be locked away.”

Mrs Dobinson, 55, added that she sympathised with Elderfield’s children who had been in court.

She said: “I feel so sorry for her children having to sit there and listen to it.”

During a 10-day trial, the jury heard how Elderfield and Mr Dobinson, from Faringdon, had had an on-off relationship since June 2012.

After the verdict, Mr Dobinson’s sister Jackie, 32, read a statement from the family saying: “Our family has been ripped apart by Raggy’s death.

“It has broken our hearts to know that there is somebody out there who can do something like this.

“Natasha used to live with us and she has done something that can never be forgiven.

“It is hard to move on with life and I hope that the court case will help us with this.”

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Brown said the case demonstrated the extreme result of excessive drinking and domestic violence.

He said: “Whilst Elderfield may not have intended to kill Robert, her violent and drunken actions have taken the life of her boyfriend and now a family is left without their son and brother, and his daughter is without a father.

“No sentence can ever bring Robert back but I hope that this conviction today will help Robert’s friends and family to feel some sense of justice.”

Judge Patrick Eccles said a prison sentence was inevitable but asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He remanded Elderfield in custody to appear before the same court in late May.