Mum faces jail term for fatally stabbing her ex in row over child care

A MOTHER has been warned she faces jail after being convicted of stabbing the father of their three young children - a Gulf war veteran - to death in a row.

Yvonne Lambert, 34, killed former Royal Scots soldier David McLaughlan, 44, after accusing him of leaving their children home alone while out drinking last July.

A jury returned an unanimous guilty verdict of culpable homicide, reduced from murder.

The court had heard that the pair, who were separated, had argued about the care of their children when they had both been drinking separately.

The argument led to police being called to McLaughlan's house, where Lambert was detained. But she was later released and returned to his home, where they had a struggle with a knife, resulting in her stabbing him. When police arrived she shouted 'I'm a murderer, I'm a murderer'. She claimed the death had not been intentional.

Lambert's defence counsel Jock Thomson claimed there was sufficient doubt to acquit her of murder. Judge Lord Stacey told Lambert there was no alternative to a jail sentence, but released her on bail for background reports before sentencing.

In a statement, Mr McLaughlan's family said: "There are no winners in this case - only losers. We have lost a brother and three children have lost a father."