A BEAUTICIAN who fatally stabbed her drug dealer boyfriend after she claimed he threatened to cut their unborn baby out of her womb has been nailed over the killing.
Former hairdresser Dionne Christie, 24, struck Jevin Haig in the chest with his own hunting knife as they struggled in the bedroom of her flat in Falkirk.
She was found guilty of culpable homicide after a two-week trial.
The 12-inch long knife – which Mr Haig, 21, was said to carry in his waistband at all times for “protection” – sliced through his T-shirt, skin, cartilage and bone, entering his chest cavity and piercing his heart.
The High Court in Stirling heard the wound caused massive blood loss.
In the witness box, Christie claimed the victim had grabbed her from behind with the knife close to her belly before she managed to thrust backwards with her bottom and break free, only to find he had a stab wound in his chest, pouring blood.
She said she had no idea how this happened.
Christie, who already had two young girls, was 12 weeks pregnant with Mr Haig’s child.
Her lawyer Ian Duguid KC described what happened as “a tragedy for both families”.
The court heard, however, that Christie had delayed for several minutes before calling 999.
Prosecutors said this showed such “wicked disregard” for Jevin’s life it meant she did not care whether he lived or died.
When police arrived, minutes behind the ambulance, Christie said Mr Haig had stabbed himself.
The prosecution painted her as a “volatile” woman who had invented the story about the bid to cut out the baby “in a desperate attempt to rewrite the narrative”.
Prosecutor Graeme Jessop KC said she had knifed Mr Haig in a fit of anger while packing his bags because he no longer had any money.
In a text conversation the day before he died, Jevin told Dionne he’d been “losing out on deals” and suggested they should stay in because a hotel they’d discussed going to was “dead”.
Christie, who used the name “Designer” for messaging, texted back, “You know what’s dead? You.”
She told the court the message had not been about an intention to kill.
The court heard claims Christie had been violent previously towards Jevin, stabbing him in the leg, slashing a Canada Goose jacket, and cutting up most of his clothes.
Christie, now 24, of Polmont, Stirlingshire, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Jevin, from Moredun, Edinburgh.
The jury found Christie guilty of culpable homicide by a majority verdict after deliberating for nearly five hours.
Christie remained expressionless as the verdict was announced.
On the public benches, members of both families wept.
Judge Lady Poole remanded her in custody for sentencing.
The law chief said victim impact statements showed Jevin Haig’s family was devastated by his death in June 2022.
Leaving court, Jevins’s mother Karen May Mearns, 49, said the jury’s verdict “meant the world” to the family.
She said: “It doesn’t matter that it’s culpable homicide, not murder.
“She has been free for two-and-a-half years after killing our son, and now, at last, a monster has been caged.”
