Claire Bridger, 64, has been acquitted of attempted murder but found guilty of wounding with intent after stabbing her estranged husband when he told her he had euthanized their two pet dogs.
Bridger, from Taverham in Norwich, said she sensed something was wrong when she arrived at her husband Keith Bridger’s home on July 17, 2025 — the usual barking wasn’t there.
When she asked where the dogs were, she said he told her he had them put down, according to the Eastern Daily Press.
Bridger told the court she erupted in anger, “blacked out,” and then stabbed him in the chest and abdomen using a knife that was in her car, The Telegraph reported. Jurors also heard part of a 999 call in which Bridger can be heard shouting, “You killed my dogs!” according to The Telegraph.
She was arrested and charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent, according to Discover.SWNS.com.
On Jan. 13, the jury found Bridger not guilty of attempted murder but convicted her of wounding with intent, the Eastern Daily Press reported.
During the trial, jurors heard the couple had separated in April 2025 and had been attending mediation sessions when the incident happened, according to The Telegraph.
Bridger said she had initially cared for the two rescue dogs the couple and their two daughters had adopted, but left them with Keith when she traveled to London to visit her sister and niece for a week, The Telegraph reported.
She told the court she ended up staying away for several weeks as she struggled with the breakup. During that period, Keith and their daughters looked after the dogs — which were described in court as having behavioral issues — The Telegraph reported.
At one stage, one of the couple’s daughters urged Bridger to come back and collect the dogs because they were struggling to cope and were considering having them put down, the Eastern Daily Press reported.
Bridger said she didn’t believe it. “I thought it was nonsense,” she told jurors, adding that she believed her daughters were trying to get her to return home. “I thought that they would never put the dogs down, no matter what.”
When she eventually returned to Norwich, she drove to Keith’s house to drop off some of their daughters’ belongings.
Before heading over, Bridger said she drank a double gin and tonic, the Eastern Daily Press reported.
Keith was in the driveway when she arrived, and the two spoke briefly, she testified. As she prepared to leave, she realized again that the dogs were silent — something she found unsettling.
“I shouted out ‘Where are the dogs?’” she told jurors. “He didn’t answer me. I beeped my horn and shouted it again.”
She said she shouted a third time, and that was when he turned toward her and told her, “You know where the dogs are. The vets wrote to you.” Bridger said she replied she’d received a text from the vets — and then, she testified, he told her: “You know what happened to the dogs. The dogs are dead. I had them put down.”
Bridger told the court that hearing those words triggered what felt like a sudden mental rupture.
“It was like an explosion in my head,” she said. “I could see my feet getting out of the car and that was it.”
Jurors heard that she then “saw red,” grabbed a bent knife from a trash bag in her car, and stabbed Keith, according to the Eastern Daily Press.
When questioned by her defense attorney about whether she assaulted her husband with a knife and intended to cause “really serious harm,” Bridger answered “yes,” the Eastern Daily Press reported.
Her defense argued that a psychiatric assessment found a “combination of alcohol and extreme emotional arousal” could have caused amnesia during the incident.
Bridger is due to be sentenced on March 20.
