Woman, 66, accused of murdering ‘violent’ husband, 78, told police ‘oh, good’ when told he was dead
Woman, 66, accused of murdering her ‘violent’ husband, 78, told police ‘oh, good’ when she heard he had died and said she would ‘do it again if given the chance’, court hears
Penelope Jackson stabbed husband of 24 years at home in Berrow, SomersetProsecutors today heard of her delight after being told by cops he was deadThe mother said she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband Jackson, 66, denies the murder of her husband but has accepted manslaughter
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A woman accused of murdering her ‘abusive’ husband said ‘oh, good’ when police told her he had died, a court heard.
Penelope Jackson, 66, was arrested after knifing David Jackson, 78, three times and refusing to offer help while he lay dying on the kitchen floor at their home in Berrow, Somerset.
Yesterday, the trial heard details of a chilling 999 call in which Jackson told operators she tried to stab her husband in the heart but ‘he doesn’t have one’.
It resumed today with prosecutors revealing Jackson’s delight when being told her actions at their home on February 13 this year, had led to his death.
Prosecuting, Christopher Quinlan QC said she was told the allegation had been upgraded to murder when she arrived at the police station.
He said she replied: ‘Oh murder, not attempted murder? Oh, good.’
Jackson then told cops: ‘It was a long time coming. I am glad. If I was given the chance again I would do it again even if they locked me up for 125 million years.
Retired accountant Penelope Jackson, 65, pictured right, has been charged with murdering her husband David, left, at their Somerset home in February this year
The couple are thought to have moved into their Somerset home eight years ago, and in December last year police were called to their address after a row about a remote control
The £300,000 cul-de-sac bungalow was home to the Jackson’s, who had been married for 24 years before wife Penelope stabbed her husband David to death
‘I should have walked away years ago but I didn’t.
‘I deserve everything coming my way but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.’
Jackson was then detained by cops who noted several injuries on both arms and a small cut to her finger, and the following day she was interviewed under caution.
The trial heard she had refused to answer questions but provided a statement.
She told police she had been the victim of ‘extreme violence’ following the death of her 28-year-old son Gavin, who killed himself in 1998.
She then referred to an incident in December 2020 when she called police and locked her husband in the conservatory to protect herself before he smashed his way out and assaulted her.
Referring to the night of February 13 this year, she said they had enjoyed a zoom call with her daughter and son-in-law where they ate crab and lobster.
But she told cops: ‘His face changed into something I had seen so many times. I knew at the end of the call there would be trouble.’
She said went to bed fearful he would become aggressive with a knife under her pillow.
‘I felt I could not do this anymore and tried to take my own life by slitting my wrist, she added. ‘I told David I had had enough and could not go on.’
She said Mr Jackson then ‘goaded her’ to use the knife.
She added: ‘I did not intend to kill or do him serious harm, but I stabbed him once with a knife. I got up went and went towards the kitchen.
Mrs Jackson told the 999 operator: ‘I’ve killed my husband, or tried to, because I’ve had enough’ and refused to help him when the call handler asked her to take steps to stem the bleeding
‘I put the knife down and said ‘now you know what it feels like.’ He then came towards me but what happened next is not clear.’
Jackson said she must have picked the knife up again as David had two further stab wounds and he fell to the floor.
Referencing the following 999 call that was played in full to the jury earlier in the trial, she added: ‘I was told I made various comments to police but I was in complete shock and traumatised by what happened. I did not intend to kill him – I just wanted him to stop. I wanted David to know the years of abuse had to stop.’
Mr Quinlan told the jury that when police carried out a search of the scene they discovered what he described as a ‘confession note.’
The note read: ‘I have taken so much abuse the over the years.’
She wrote he had been a ‘good daddy’ while in Germany’ but added: ‘However, the mask slipped tonight.
She signed off the note by writing: ‘I accept my punishment, may he rot in hell.’
Mr Quinlan said it was clear the note had been written before the 999 call as police arrived during that period.
The defendant had worked in administration and accounts in the Royal Air Force and later the army, where she met the victim who had worked his way up from private to lieutenant colonel.
Before settling in Somerset, the couple had lived in Germany and France and their friends had described them as ‘happy together’.
One friend told police their relationship was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’, while another said: ‘They would occasionally disagree and argue and bicker, but it never lasted long’.
Officers were called to Berrow in Somerset at 9.15pm on February 13 this year after paramedics reported a male had been seriously injured
But in late December 2020, police were called to their address following a row over a TV remote control.
After the tragic attack in February, shocked neighbours of the Jacksons said they had ‘never heard a cross word’ exchanged between the couple.
Locals from the couple’s home town of Berrow, near Weston-super-Mare, told of the couple’s love of gardening at the £300,000 detached bungalow they shared in a cul-de-sac.
One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘They were the perfect neighbours.
‘They were always friendly, didn’t make a lot of noise and I literally never heard a raised voice or cross word between them.
‘They loved gardening and were out there night and day, working away.
‘I don’t know what has happened. The first I heard was when the police and an ambulance arrived on Saturday. It is such a shame.’
Jackson denies murder but has accepted manslaughter.
The trial continues.
