A MOTHER-of-two has spoken of her terror after being held hostage at knifepoint by her suicidal husband.

Sandra Burton, aged 40, said she thought she was going to be killed during the hour-long ordeal at her home in Beauchamp Road, Malvern, on February 8.

"When he grabbed me around the neck and threatened me with the knife I thought that's it - I'm going to die," said Mrs Burton.

"It was a living nightmare that I thought would never end - all I could think about was my children."

At Worcester Crown Court on Thursday, Stephen Burton was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to false imprisonment and affray.

The court heard that Burton, aged 41, of Jamaica Road, Malvern, had become increasingly upset about the disintegration of his 11-year marriage to Sandra.

Her terrifying ordeal began when Burton left a suicide note at his home before driving to see his father for the last time.

But on the way, he spotted his 11-year-old daughter and gave her a lift home.

His wife tried to keep him out of the house but, despite a court order not to go within 100 yards of the property, he kicked the door in.

He then held her hostage with an 11-inch combat knife and repeatedly threatened to kill her before finally surrendering to armed police.

Speaking after the case, Mrs Burton, who also has a seven-year-old son, said although it was officially over, the memories of that day would haunt her forever.

"What I went through has aged me 20 years," said Mrs Burton, who is now divorced.

"While I was in the house he kept trying to drag me upstairs but I knew that if I went, I'd never come back down - he wanted to kill me.

"I tried to use my mobile phone but he stabbed it with the knife.

"He kept saying, 'I've got nothing to lose and you're coming with me'.

"After all the years of violence, I knew, somewhere at the back of my mind, that it would come to this.

"Stephen was a control freak and when I left him in November 2001, he was no longer able to control me.

"Just six weeks before all this happened I'd begun a new relationship and Stephen was jealous.

"He created his own world and lived by his own rules. It was always one rule for him and another rule for everyone else.

"I'm disappointed that the sentence wasn't longer because the way the prison system works, he could be out in six months.

"But at least for the next six months, I'll be able to sleep and relax knowing he's not waiting for me around the next corner."

In court, Francis Laird, defending, said Burton was a hard-working man with no police record who felt betrayed when his wife left him.

"Emotion got the better of him, but he has learned his lesson."