A former mother of the year has been cleared of murdering her husband after stabbing him in the heart.
A jury at Newcastle Crown Court found Helena Atay, known as Karine, not guilty of the more serious charge but convicted her of manslaughter on the grounds of lack of intent, following a trial which lasted more than four weeks.
She could not remember the fatal attack on her 45-year-old husband Atakan, a Turkish-born businessman, at the family home in Birtley, Gateshead, last October.
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It was alleged the couple had a row about her wanting to leave the house to get more wine, and she picked up a 12cm kitchen knife .
The 42-year-old plunged it into his chest, just below a tattoo which read Sophie My Endless Love, a tribute to their two-year-old daughter who died from the childhood cancer neuroblastoma in 2010.
She won the Chronicle newspaper's Mum Of The Year contest in honour of her efforts to raise £500,000 to pay for pioneering treatment for Sophie in the US, which even moved TV star Simon Cowell .
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News of her appeal reached Cowell who pledged up to £100,000, but Sophie was too unwell to benefit from the fundraising and did not have the treatment.
Giving evidence in the trial, Atay said she had been drinking wine on the night her husband was killed, and that she had planned to go out to buy another bottle with £10 in her bra.
The mother-of-three told the jury her husband attacked her before she could leave the house, and that she could not remember stabbing him.
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Atay had previously been caught drink-driving and had been arrested for biting a nightclub doorman.
She told the court her drinking got worse after the death of her daughter and she had sought help for it.
She was to tell police following her arrest that her husband was controlling and had subjected her to years of physical and verbal aggression.
Atay will be sentenced for manslaughter later.
Outside court, Mr Atay's family said he was a gentleman.
In a statement, they said: "He was made a victim because of his compassion and being a good person.
"He always wanted to do the right thing and that has cost him his life."
"We are all going to carry the pain of that knife in our hearts all through our lives. Every knife we see will remind us of the pain it gave to his beautiful heart."
Describing his widow as "cruel," they said: "Karine, we don't know how you will be able to live with yourself when we are struggling to get through our own lives with such pain.
"We can never forgive you for the damage you have done to this family. Our hearts have been broken forever."
