A 66-year-old woman has been convicted of murdering her husband by stabbing him three times following a dispute over a birthday meal. Penelope Jackson attacked 78-year-old David Jackson at their home in Berrow, Somerset, in February 2021.
The court heard that the argument began over a serving of bubble and squeak with a gourmet meal bought by their daughter. The couple had been dining with their daughter and son-in-law via Zoom during lockdown, and the row appeared to have subsided before the call ended.
However, later that evening, Mr Jackson called emergency services after being stabbed. While he was on the phone, his wife stabbed him again, and he was heard screaming in pain. Jackson then took over the call, stating: 'I've killed my husband, or tried to, because I've had enough.' She also told a call handler that her husband of 24 years was 'bleeding to death with any luck.'
In body-worn police footage, Jackson told officers: 'I stabbed him, I've had enough' and that she 'should have stabbed him a bit more.' The prosecution argued that Jackson had a history of violent behaviour, while the defence claimed she was a victim of coercive control and domestic abuse.
Sentencing her to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years, Judge Martin Picton said Jackson had shown 'not a shred of remorse' and had attempted to portray her husband as a 'monster.' He added: 'You took the life of another human being. That is a terrible thing to do.'
David Jackson's estranged daughter, Jane Calverley, accused Penelope Jackson of being the abuser in the relationship, saying her father would have been too proud to ask for help. The couple's daughter, Isabelle Potterton, said she had lost both parents and that her relationship with her mother would never be the same.
