Claire Bridger, a 64-year-old Norfolk resident, has been accused of stabbing her estranged husband and leaving him with life-threatening injuries after learning he had their two rescue dogs put down.
The incident took place after Bridger drove to the address where her husband, Keith Bridger, was staying to ask him to pay for the animal’s next mediation session.
Instead, jurors were told, the conversation took a devastating turn when she discovered that both dogs had been euthanized without her knowledge.
What followed, prosecutors say, was a violent outburst that ended with Keith Bridger being stabbed twice and pleading for help as neighbors intervened and emergency services were called.
A woman stabbed her husband in a moment of rage after learning he had put her dogs down without her consent
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
According to prosecutor Peter Gair, Bridger “became hysterical” upon learning what had happened to the dogs.
“She was screaming ‘You’ve ki**ed my dogs,’” Gair told Norwich Crown Court.
Jurors were told Bridger exited her car holding a knife in her right hand before lunging at her husband.
She stabbed him once in the chest and once in the abdomen, inflicting what were later described as life-threatening injuries.
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
As Keith Bridger lay on the ground bleeding and crying out for help, the defendant allegedly bit him on the arm. Neighbors, alerted by the commotion, rushed over and attempted to restrain Bridger, wrestling the knife away from her.
A 999 call for a life-threatening emergency was made during the chaos, and a recording of it was played to the jury. In it, the caller can be heard urgently telling the operator, “There’s a woman with a knife.”
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
Witnesses also reported hearing Bridger screaming at her husband, calling him a “horrible man,” while Keith Bridger could be heard saying, “She stabbed me.”
When police arrived, Bridger allegedly repeated her accusation, telling officers, “He ki**ed my dogs,” before adding, “I just saw red.”
The couple had owned the dogs for at least 5 years, with both presenting “behavioral issues”
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
The court heard that the couple had been together for almost 40 years before separating the year prior to the alleged attack. The stabbing is said to have taken place on the night of July 17 last year.
According to Gair, the couple took in their first rescue dog at their marital home in Taverham, Norfolk, in March 2020, just days before the first COVID-19 lockdown. A second dog was adopted a year later.
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
Jurors were told the animals were difficult to manage, describing them as “quite noisy,” “bitey,” and as having ongoing “behavioral issues.”
After the relationship broke down, the dogs remained in the care of Keith Bridger. However, the court heard he was not permitted to keep them permanently at his one-bedroom accommodation in Bramerton.
Attempts to rehome the dogs had failed.
Jurors are examining whether the stabbing was a fully conscious act or the result of uncontrolled rage
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
“He felt there was only one option and that was to have them put down,” Gair said, a decision the prosecution stressed Claire Bridger was not informed of.
When she arrived at her husband’s address to discuss the mediation session, she demanded to know, “Where are my dogs?” It was at that point, jurors were told, that she learned they had been euthanized.
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
Keith Bridger’s injuries were so serious that immediate medical attention was required at the scene. A neighbor who is a doctor treated him before he was taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for further care.
The jury has been told that Claire Bridger appeared emotional in the dock as the case was opened. She denies attempted homicide but has admitted an offense of wounding with intent.
Image credits: Claire Bridger/Facebook
As the trial continues, jurors are tasked with determining whether the stabbing amounted to an act committed in a moment of uncontrolled rage, or a fully conscious crime.
According to English Law, if jurors are not convinced she meant to end her husband’s life, but believe she intended to cause him serious harm, the correct verdict becomes wounding with intent and demands a lesser sentence.
The story was first reported by Eastern Daily Press on October 22, 2025.
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