A DETECTIVE has denied trying to kill his cheating wife after he discovered her affair with an old flame she traced through Friends Reunited.

Hugh Needham, formerly of Blackburn, who plunged a razor-sharp knife four inches into 37-year-old Laura Needham's stomach, told a jury he believed she was merely 'scratched'.

Det Con Needham, 42, maintained the 'accident' occurred after he slipped on the living room carpet and fell forward.

He said he did not realise she was hurt until he saw blood on the blade.

"There was no force, there was no push," he insisted. "There was nothing. I didn't even know I had the knife until I saw it."

Needham, a policeman for 10 years and a trained chef, allegedly stabbed mother-of-four Laura in a jealous rage over her infidelity.

The detective was criticised for his lack of concern as his wife staggered to her parents' home next door.

The injury had put her in intensive care and her condition for a time was 'touch and go.'

Needham is accused of knifing his librarian wife after she told him their 10-year marriage was over.

He was also said to be incensed after discovering her month-long affair with an old school friend she had traced through the Friends Reunited website.

She started a relationship with Michael Soames, from Bedford, after the pair exchanged emails.

Needham was arrested by a colleague shortly after the attack at the couple's home in Bridge Down, in Bridge, near Canterbury, on May 26 last year.

Needham, suspended on full pay, allegedly lured his wife away from a party at her parents' home prior to the stabbing.

Timothy Mousley, QC, prosecuting, said: "This was a man who could not cope with the breakdown of his marriage.

"He was driven by jealousy and rejection and his violence culminated in a moment when the Crown say he lost all control of himself and tried to kill her."

Asked if he lost control and stabbed his wife he replied: "I never, never lose control."

Needham denies attempted murder, an alternative charge of wounding with intent and witness intimidation.

Proceeding