A poet who stabbed her husband after giving him an aphrodisiac and promising him sex in the woods was convicted of his attempted murder yesterday.

Joanna Hale, 39, of Stapleton, Bristol, and her husband, Peter, 43, ate horny goat weed in December last year before driving to Stoke Park on the edge of the city.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court heard how she lured Mr Hale into the woods and,as he grew amorous, blindfolded him and asked him to lie down.

Sitting astride him she then slit his throat and stabbed him in the chest, only narrowly missing his heart.

At this point they were disturbed by Timothy Walker, who was out walking his dog.

Hale told Mr Walker she had stumbled across the injured man and that she would go for help if he stayed with him.

But, instead, she ran off to meet Philip Sudol, a postal worker from Leeds who she had befriended on the internet, for the first time, intending to take him home with her for a weekend of passion.

By now, police had identified Mr Hale, who was being treated in hospital, and were waiting for his wife at the marital home.

Mr Sudol was questioned and released without charge.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court found Hale guilty by a 10-2 majority.

She was remanded in custody for sentencing.

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