Narelle Atkinson: Shepparton woman pleads not guilty to manslaughter

A Shepparton mum is accused of stabbing her husband to death after a long-term abusive relationship that extended to her children.

A Shepparton woman is facing charges of manslaughter after she allegedly stabbed her partner last year.

A Shepparton mum is accused of stabbing her husband to death after a long-term abusive relationship that extended to her children, a court has heard.

Narelle Atkinson, 47, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in Shepparton Magistrates Court on Thursday after she was initially charged with the murder of her partner, Darren Still.

The court heard Still had thrown a knife at her before she allegedly fatally stabbed him while their two daughters and their boyfriends were at their Shepparton home.

Still had accused Atkinson of having sex with her daughter’s boyfriend and calling her a “slut”.

Atkinson’s defence lawyer, Robert Richter, detailed Still’s extensive history of domestic violence dating back to 1995.

While cross-examining the informant of the case Mr Ritcher said Still had locked his four year old in a caravan in 1995 and held a knife to his throat before police broke in to save his child.

Two years later the court heard he struck his seven month old child across the face, picked the baby up by its jumpsuit and dropped it to the ground before trying to smother it with a pillow.

Atkinson, he said, saved the child and was beaten.

On another occasion, Mr Ritcher said Still beat Atkinson and threatened to slit her throat with a knife.

He said he also beat his five year old with bruising noted by child protection services.

The deceased was convicted for recklessly causing injury, property damage and threatening to kill.

Mr Ritcher said the deceased had “advanced onto the accused” — “walking into a large filleting knife”.

But the youngest daughter told the court there was no such thing as an “accidental” stabbing.

She alleged she “never saw him punch her” and “[Atkinson] was always violent to him”.

A neighbour, Darren, claimed Still approached his house and asked him to call police in fear of Atkinson killing him.

He alleged he’d never witnessed Still be violent towards the accused.

The eldest daughter said she saw her father allegedly throw the knife at her mother before finding her father “stumble out of the bedroom holding his bleeding stomach”.

Mr Richter alleged the partner was “on ice, as per the autopsy report” and slapped Atkinson across the face while telling her to “shut the f*ck up” on a separate occasion.

The court heard the deceased had been in and out of prison.

Magistrate Peter Dunn granted Atkinson bail without objections from the prosecution given Mr Richter providing “extremely compelling reasons”.

Atkinson, heard weeping in court, is not allowed to have any contact with witnesses including her two daughters.

The trial begins later this month in the Supreme Court.