A Berrow woman has been found guilty of murder after stabbing her husband to death following a row over a birthday meal.
Penelope Jackson, 66, stabbed 78-year-old David Jackson with a kitchen knife at their home in Berrow’s Parsonage Road in February.
Jackson claimed her husband was violent and coercively controlling and that he had “ruined” her special occasion by belittling her.
On Friday, jurors at Bristol Crown Court returned a majority verdict of 10-2 and found her guilty.
Judge Martin Picton handed Jackson a life sentence of which she’ll spend a minimum 18 years in prison, minus time already served in custody.
He said he did not detect a shred of remorse and that Jackson chose to stab her husband to death.
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Roger Doxsey said: “This is a deeply tragic case, which centred around suspected physical and mental abuse.”
“I’d like to pay tribute to David Jackson’s family at this difficult time. The past few months have been tortuous for them and they have shown incredible courage throughout this undoubtedly painful legal process. They continue to receive support from a specialist officer.”
Mr Jackson, a retired lieutenant colonel, was first slashed across the chest by his wife in a bedroom of the home they shared in Berrow on the night of 13 February this year.
He was then stabbed twice more in the kitchen while on the phone to the emergency services, Bristol Crown Court heard during a two-and-a-half week trial.
After stabbing her husband, Penelope Jackson wrote a note which said “I accept my punishment, may he rot in hell”.
Jackson admitted manslaughter but denied murder – claiming she was the victim of years of violence and controlling behaviour at her husband’s hands.
After almost 11 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict on Friday 29 October.
In an 18-minute 999 call at the time of the incident, the 66-year-old told the operator her husband was “bleeding to death with any luck”.
She repeatedly refused to follow their instructions to try and help him.
Jackson told the jury her husband was coercive and also physically violent towards her – pushing, shoving and strangling her.
She said Mr Jackson valued loyalty and she would have felt disloyal if she disclosed to anyone the abuse she had suffered at his hands.
The court heard she had called the police in December last year when he smashed a glass door with a poker during a row over the TV remote control.
Jackson’s daughter, Isabelle Potterton, told the court Mr Jackson was last violent towards his wife “more than 20 years ago”.
She recounted Mr Jackson – who was her step father but raised her since birth – once held a knife to her mother’s throat.
In bodycam footage of Jackson’s arrest outside the couple’s home she can be heard telling police officers “I stabbed him”.
She called him an “aggressive bully” and told officers: “I’ve had enough… When he said I wouldn’t do it, I did it twice more,” she can be heard saying.
After arriving at the police station, Jackson then joked about Covid.
In another clip, when Jackson was re-arrested for murder rather than attempted murder, she can be heard saying: “Oh, good.”
Jackson was convicted of murdering her husband by a jury of eight women and four men on a majority of 10 against two after almost 11 hours of deliberations.
There was a gasp from the public gallery, which was packed with David Jackson’s extended family, when the verdict was read out.
Jackson did not react to the jury’s verdict.
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If you, or someone you know, needs support because of domestic abuse, here are some of the local and national services information.
