A man who stabbed his unfaithful wife in the neck with a pair of hairdressing scissors was jailed for four and a half years today for attempted murder.

Brian Gibbs, 63, a self-employed builder of South Drive, Banstead, carried out the attack on wife Katherine, 55, after she had told him a couple of days earlier she was leaving him for his former best friend and married man, Ron Mynott, the Old Bailey heard.

They had been married for 35 years and before the attack took place Mrs Gibbs revealed she had been having an affair for 30 years.

The court heard how Gibbs carried out the attack on Mrs Gibbs at 6am on November 12, by pushing her down the stairs and stabbing her in the neck with a six-inch pair of hairdressing scissors when she went to make him a cup of tea.

The court heard how Gibbs grabbed her by the throat and punched her in the face as she begged him to stop.

Mrs Gibbs suffered a single wound as a result and the blade came short of a major artery by two inches.

The couple had two sons together the court heard and Mr Mynott had been best man at their wedding in 1973.

Gibbs originally denied the charge of attempted murder and later pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.