Karen Harvey, 44, has been remanded in custody since assaulting her husband with the DIY tool at their home last November.

She appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last Tuesday for sentencing.

Fiscal depute Jeanette Maclean told the court the attack happened at the home the couple shared at Craigrownie Gardens around 11am on Saturday, November 22.

She said that Mrs Harvey was lying on the sofa in the living room and her husband entered to pick up his phone which he had left on the coffee table.

Mrs Harvey asked who was contacting him.

He went into the kitchen and was standing by the sink checking messages on his phone when his wife came through and told him ‘You’ll be ok’.

Ms Maclean said: “He was unsure what she meant by this but then observed the accused becoming angry and irate, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.

“She lunged towards him, hitting him on the back with two blows. She stopped and said, ‘Right, I’m going to get a knife out of this drawer’.

“He saw her open the drawer, take something out and strike him with it. It was a black-handled screwdriver.” Ms Maclean said the man sustained a ‘scratch’ to his shoulder in the attack.

His wife pleaded guilty to assaulting him at an earlier court hearing and sentence was adjourned for reports, including a psychiatric assessment.

Her lawyer, Tom Brown, told the court that Mrs Harvey had nowhere to go and did not want to leave Cornton Vale prison.

He said: “I’ve explained the various ways I can address the court but she is adamant that she is not ready to leave Cornton Vale at the moment.

“What she says is she has nowhere to go.” He said both her husband, who was present in court, and Mrs Harvey had told him their relationship was over.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said: “The report rather unsurprisingly indicates mental health problems but also indicates this is not to the extent that requires treatment or assessment.

“A lay person might disagree.” He sentenced her to six months in prison, which was backdated to November 24 and told her she faced getting out in the ‘not too distant future’.