A drunken wife has been jailed for 15 years after stabbing her Irvine husband to death while their son played Fortnite upstairs.

Natasha Welsh, 43, stabbed “lovable rascal” Martin Welsh with a 15cm kitchen knife on October 26 last year at the family home in Hendon, north-west London.

Their 21-year-old son Kyle had been upstairs on his Playstation and ran down to find his father dying from a stab wound to the chest.

IT executive Martin, was born and raised in Irvine but moved to London when he was a teenager where he married Welsh.

The Old Bailey heard at the time of the killing, Welsh’s relationship with the 47-year-old Celtic fan had turned “toxic”.

The couple were regular drinkers who would consume more alcohol on a Friday, which they called “fight night”.

The couple’s children Charlie and Kyle said Welsh had the “strength of 10 men” and behaved like a “lunatic” while under the influence of alcohol.

Alcoholic Welsh had accepted killing her husband but denied murder, claiming she had no memory of that night last year.

But a jury found her guilty and she was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years at the Old Bailey.

Judge Alexia Durran told Welsh: “In recent years, your life has revolved around alcohol. “You started drinking in the afternoon before your husband returned from work.

“In a heightened state of intoxication and anger, you picked up a kitchen knife from the block on the work surface and stabbed Martin in the chest.

“I accept you are wracked by guilt about killing Martin and the effect on your children.”

In a statement, the couple’s daughter Charlie told how she and her younger brother “feel we have lost both parents, not one” as a result of the verdict. She said they missed their “big bubbly” father “immeasurably”.

But she added: “We know in our heart of hearts our dad would not want our mum to suffer in this way.

“He did genuinely love her no matter what happened and that is the main reason he would never leave her.”

A statement was also read out from Martin’s sister, Mary-Rose, who said his death had been like a “nuclear bomb going off in the heart of the family”.

She said: “We were devastated last October when we heard the news that Martin was dead. My mum’s only wish is that we could have him back in our lives.

“He was a much loved father and friend, he was always happy and always smiling.”

She spoke of her “happy time” growing up with Martin as the only girl of four children.

She said: “Martin was the joker and would take great delight in playing practical jokes on us all – he was a joker and rascal.

“He was a family man, everything he did was for his family.”