Isle of Wight woman jailed for murdering husband in bed

[dutchman]

A woman who killed her husband with a shotgun because she claimed he was hell to live with due to his drinking has been jailed for life for murder.

Helen Lawson, 62, fired both barrels of the weapon at point-blank range as her husband Geoffrey, 61, lay in bed at their Isle of Wight home in January.

Lawson admitted manslaughter through diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder.

The Winchester Crown Court judge told her she would serve at least 15 years.

Lawson showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered by Mr Justice Sweeney.

'Extraordinarily cruel'

During the seven-day trial, the jury heard Lawson, a keen clay pigeon shooter who had a licence for two guns, had "snapped" and taken the Beretta gun from the cabinet in their cottage in the village of Wellow.

She then went upstairs, put the light on, called out her husband's name to make sure he was awake.

He shouted "oh, Helen, no" as she fired the shots, the court heard. Mr Lawson died instantly.

Mrs Lawson then dropped the weapon at the foot of the bed, went downstairs and called the emergency services, telling the operator it was no accident, the court heard.

Sentencing Lawson, Mr Sweeney told her: "You were intent, as you admitted during the trial, on killing him.

"I have no doubt that you then woke him up so that he knew what was coming and with the intention that the last moments of his life would be spent in abject terror of you - an extraordinarily cruel thing to have done."

The jury heard that when police said her husband was dead Mrs Lawson replied, "Good".

The couple, who had married in 2005, had known each other longer, buying the attractive old post house where they lived when they both retired.

The jury was told that during police interviews she had said, "I had had enough. He was hell to live with. He was an alcoholic".

'Good as sober'

When asked by officers why she got the gun, Lawson replied: "Too much drink really. I really was angry. I never thought about that before, nothing like that.

"I did love him but it was getting I hated him more often. How he was acting, how he made me feel. I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt. I knew it was the drink, but he never took any notice."

Tests showed Mr Lawson was "as good as sober" when he was killed, the court heard.

Mr Justice Sweeney said Lawson had drunk for "Dutch courage" before the shooting and added that he thought she had exaggerated her husband's drinking and bad behaviour to help her defence.

He said: "You robbed Geoffrey Lawson of his life at the age of 61. You thereby deprived his sons, in particular, of a loving father who was much treasured and desperately missed."