A WIFE who was stabbed by her schizophrenic husband in a frenzied attack said: "I can't help but support him".

Susan Johnson was attacked, together with her teenage son, by her 48-year-old husband, Diarmuid, last March.

But today she said the incident would not have happened if pleas for medical treatment for him had been answered.

The past year had been hell following the attack -- but she said she would stand by her husband.

Johnson was convicted of two counts of wounding with intent at Liverpool Crown Court this week. Charges of attempted murder were dropped when he admitted the lesser charges.

Judge Gerald Clifton imposed an indefinite hospital order on him after accepting medical reports that he was suffering from an extreme form of schizophrenia.

Mrs Johnson suffered nine stab wounds in the attack. Her son, 19-year-old Jamie Dodd, received facial and abdominal wounds.

But Mrs Johnson, a nurse, of Blacksmith Fold, Atherton, described her husband as a gentle giant, a quiet, lovely man who led a normal life.

She said: "This has been a disaster for all of us. We have had a terrible time, it has been dreadful.

"I'm sure it would not have happened if calls for medical help from both myself and Diarmuid had been answered."

The court had heard that Johnson, who had not slept for five nights, went downstairs at 3am to make a cup of tea.

His wife followed and discovered him staring vacantly at the wall in the kitchen. She returned to bed but Johnson followed her with a knife and repeatedly stabbed her.

Her son tried to intervene and escaped to the bathroom with his mother. Miss Susan Klonin, prosecuting, said Johnson began "stabbing wildly around the door".

The attack continued but eventually Mrs Johnson managed to get downstairs and ran naked into the street, covered in blood.

Her son also managed to escape and alerted the police. Officers found Johnson with his hands clasped around a knife blade which was embedded in his chest.

Mrs Johnson, who has been married for five years, said she knew of her social worker husband's illness, which was well controlled, before they married.

She said: "He started to deteriorate at Christmas last year because he had not been able to work in his role as a day care worker because of his illness, and between January and March, he got worse.

"He became more depressed and I was worried about him.

"On the Sunday, his condition concerned me so much I rang Leigh Infirmary but was told he couldn't be admitted. On the Monday, I spoke to his psychiatric nurse who didn't come out to see him and later I went to his GP but no-one helped me.

"This matter is now under investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman, but I am sure if I had received some medical assistance, these attacks could have been avoided.

"We are now both facing a sentence. I have lost my husband and must cope with life on my own."

Mrs Johnson had not seen her husband -- who underwent treatment in a secure unit at Rainhill -- for almost a year, until he appeared in the dock at Liverpool.

She said: "We have been able to write but have not been able to see or speak to each other.

"It has been very upsetting and seeing him for the first time in the dock has been very emotional.

"We were just a normal couple and he was never violent. He is horrified by what he has done.

"I can't help but support him, he was always a good husband and my son thought the world of him.

"This came as a big shock to everyone. He was an ordinary man with an illness and led a normal life.

"Everyone who knows him feels terrible for us, but it's dreadful for him as well.

"We nearly didn't survive but all we and his family want now is for my husband to be looked after until he is 100 per cent fit.

"My son and I have forgiven him. We know there was no malice and that he was ill.

"We get angry because we have all suffered, but as for what the future holds we shall have to see."

Mrs Johnson said she would like to thank the Making Space charity for schizophrenia sufferers and their families and Victim Support for their invaluable help.

A spokesman for the NHS Trust in Wigan said: "The trust recognises that this is an awful situation and is very sorry for what has happened to the family.

"We are in touch with Mrs Johnson and working with her to answer her queries and concerns.

"We have been carrying out a thorough review and looking at the issues in great detail.

"This is an ongoing process which we are going to complete with Mrs Johnson."