Lindsay Raymond Bassani allegedly stabbed his wife in the neck after being told she was leaving him

A father of two ‘flicked a switch’ when he was told his wife would leave him after he accused her of cheating, a court has been told.

A father of two accused of stabbing his wife in the neck over an argument about infidelity made a strange appearance in the hours leading up to the alleged attack.

Police allege Lindsay Raymond Bassani, 42, stabbed his wife last Thursday at their Clare home, north of Adelaide.

According to SA Police, the “violent disturbance” was reported at about 7pm. The 39-year-old woman was found with a stab wound to her neck.

A court has been told the argument led to Mr Bassani grabbing his wife by the hair and dragging her down the hallway to the bedroom, pushing her onto the bed, and telling her not to move.

The alleged victim managed to push past her husband and return to the dining room, where Mr Bassani allegedly picked up a knife from the bench.

“(The defendant) stated if she left him he would kill her and himself,” the prosecutor said.

The woman called triple-0 after the alleged stabbing and locked herself with her two children in the bathroom until paramedics arrived.

She was transported to Clare Hospital suffering non-life threatening injuries.

Mr Bassani was also found with stab wounds to the abdomen and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with “serious and self-inflicted” injuries as described by SA Police.

He was charged with attempted murder, threats to kill and aggravated assault and was refused bail.

His defence lawyer appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday and asked for an adjournment because her client was in surgery at the time of the hearing.

Mr Bassani did not appear again on Monday because he was still hospitalised.

The prosecutor told Magistrate Simon Smart that the accused had moved out of the Clare home at the time of the incident and was staying at an address in Adelaide.

She said Mr Bassani returned home that night “not with the intention to reconcile” but because there were children involved.

The accused contacted his wife on the morning of the alleged offence and turned up at her work but was asked to leave, the court was told

The woman returned home from her second job to find her husband at the home.

“She said it was like the accused had flicked a switch,” the prosecutor said.

“He was accusing her of sleeping with somebody else.”

The woman told her husband their relationship was over after he pushed her onto the bed, the court was told.

Mr Bassani is due to reappear in court next week.