A MAN accused of trying to kill his wife during a stabbing attack at his home told jurors he 'flipped' after she smiled cockily.

Mark Lally went on to say 'I am not a violent person' and he never set out to commit a murder.

The 50-year-old of Wootton Road, Abingdon, has already admitted that he stabbed his wife, but denies any intention to kill her.

Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court maintain he is guilty of attempted murder and wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

READ MORE: The opening of the case last week.

It is alleged that the woman was left with 'horrific' life-threatening injuries after being stabbed eight times in a 'vicious' onslaught.

The incident took place on the night of November 27 last year.

As the trial continued today Lally went to the witness box to give his version of events.

He said that the woman had 'tried to wind [him] up' that night and added: "I am not a violent person.

"I don't hit people, I have never hit a woman in my life, I have never been physically violent to [her]."

Matthew Walsh, prosecuting, put to Lally that he wanted her dead, which he denied and said 'absolutely not.'

Explaining why he went to get the knife from the kitchen before returning to the bathroom where the stabbing took place he said it was to 'shock' her.

He said: "I never wanted to harm her."

Lally went on to say: "I was not looking to commit a murder.

"She has pushed me, I flipped, I didn't intend on using the knife.

"I have flipped, I have lost control of my senses."

Lally later told the jury that he loved the woman but could no longer live with her and added: "I never wanted to do what I have done."

Asked by prosecutors if he had threatened her with a knife before Lally replied: "No, I absolutely have not."

Asked about the moment before the stabbing he agreed his wife had a 'cocky smile' and this was the 'trigger' for the attack.

He said: "It's an absolutely ridiculous reason to flip, it's indefensible."

He added: "I can't believe I have done it to this day. I flipped.

"I am disgusted by what I have done.

"It's my fault but the fact is she said what she said, there is a reason I flipped.

"I have no history of violence, I am not a violent person, something flipped in my brain.

"Something went wrong with me, I flipped, I lost it."

He said he was not 'fully aware' where he had stabbed the woman nor the extent of her injuries until later.

Prosecutors maintain that Lally 'pushed' his victim into a corner of a bathroom, before knifing her about eight times.

The attack, the jury previously heard, was 'unprovoked, sustained and vicious' involving 'extreme violence.'

Lally denies the two counts and the trial continues.