A 66-year-old man has been spared jail after admitting a campaign of abuse against his terminally ill wife, which included urinating into water bottles and cups that she later drank from. Keith Foster's behaviour was caught on secret CCTV installed by his step-daughter.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Foster, of Lindisfarne Drive in Croxteth, subjected his wife to controlling and abusive behaviour between January 2024 and January 2025. The victim had received a stage four breast cancer diagnosis in November 2023 and was undergoing chemotherapy.
Abuse caught on CCTV
Concerns about Foster's conduct prompted his step-daughter to install a CCTV system in her bedroom, with her mother subsequently doing the same in her own room, the lounge and the kitchen. This followed the discovery that he had mixed a bottle of water with what was suspected to be urine or cleaning fluid, leaving her feeling nauseous after drinking from it.
The cameras then recorded Foster urinating into crockery in the kitchen, with three additional clips showing him filling bottles in her room with a yellow liquid. David Polglase, prosecuting, said: "He is clearly unaware or does not care that he is being videoed."
Campaign of abuse
The court heard that Foster made "degrading comments", barred his wife from their home, acted in a "physically intimidating" manner and threatened to harm her elderly parents. He also accused her of having an affair with a priest and called her "s***, s*** and gold digger".
After the victim launched divorce proceedings in August 2024, both remained in the same property but "staying apart as much as possible". Foster was said to be a "heavy drinker who would make horrible comments in drink" and "use his stature to intimidate her".
Sentencing
Foster pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour and two charges of administering a noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy. He received a three-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months alongside a probation requirement and a building choices programme.
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said Foster "should be utterly ashamed" and that his wife was "immensely vulnerable" when she should have been supported. Foster was also issued restraining orders prohibiting him from contacting his ex-wife and her daughter for four years, and ordered to cover court costs of £1,500 at a rate of £400 per month.
