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Ann Marie Pomphret stables murder: Husband jailed for life | Ann Marie Pomphret stables murder: Husband jailed for life |
(30 minutes later) | |
A man who battered his wife to death with a crowbar during a row has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years. | A man who battered his wife to death with a crowbar during a row has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years. |
Ann Marie Pomphret, 49, was struck 30 times by her husband David at the stables they owned in Warrington, Cheshire, on 2 November. | Ann Marie Pomphret, 49, was struck 30 times by her husband David at the stables they owned in Warrington, Cheshire, on 2 November. |
Pomphret, 51, was found guilty of her murder on Friday after a 10-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court. | Pomphret, 51, was found guilty of her murder on Friday after a 10-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court. |
He had admitted killing his wife, but denied murder on the grounds of a temporary loss of control. | He had admitted killing his wife, but denied murder on the grounds of a temporary loss of control. |
Passing sentence, Judge David Aubrey told Pomphret he was "an accomplished liar" who had woven "a web of deceit and lies". | |
He said Mrs Pomphret "had defensive injuries to both her hands. She must have been pleading and begging for you to stop". | |
"You had had enough of her, saw the opportunity that presented itself that night to kill her and did so." | |
Pomphret told jurors his wife could go from being happy to depressed in minutes and become "very angry, very quickly". | |
The couple had gone to the stables to check on their horses when Mrs Pomphret began "ranting" at him and he "snapped". | |
Pomphret had initially protested his innocence but was "undone" after a speck of blood on his socks showed he was at the scene when she died. | |
Jurors heard he dialled 999 saying he had found his wife of 22 years lying in a pool of blood, "very dead". | |
"There is brain and blood everywhere, and it looks like she has had her head beaten in," he added. | |
The Barclays bank technology expert was arrested the next day and denied any involvement. | |
He was given bail but re-arrested four months later after police found "airborne blood" on his socks. | |
Pomphret then admitted manslaughter, but blamed his "highly volatile" wife, whose mental health had deteriorated. and claimed a special defence of a temporary loss of control. | |
Judge Aubrey told Pomphret he had meticulously tried to cover his tracks and may well have got away with the murder, but added: "You forgot to change your socks." |
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