License to kill ?

[Observer II]

A woman who killed her husband following years of (alleged) emotional abuse, has been granted a retrial, after pleading guilty to murder and being convicted. So she admits murdering her husband and was found guilty, surely any mitigating circumstances should affect the sentence, not the original finding of the court ?

[Davy51]

I think the spanner in the works is provocation, Obs. Even the grown up kids agree that their father was controlling  but i suppose the main point is to what extent , & what would prompt his wife to launch a frenzied attack.

[Observer II]

My point is Dave, can there be any excuse for murder, other than immediate self defence, fear for one's life ? Mitigation maybe, but I thought Judges took such things into account in the tariff.

[asperity]

I would have thought that killing in immediate self defence would be seen, at worst, as manslaughter not murder, which has to have an element of pre-meditation.

[Observer II]

Correct, but I think an alleged 40 years of abuse would imply pre-meditation.

[Evil Sid]

Not necessarily obs, she may have just snapped after such a prolonged period of abuse, sorry alleged period that should read.

There is a limit to how much a person can tolerate, once exceeded something in the brain goes click and says enough.

How this manifests itself depends on what is being tolerated. In the case of alcohol it usually shuts the brain down leading to eventual unconsciousness.

In the case of abuse it can lead to a sudden outburst of violent anger at the person doing the abusing.

I remember an incident at school when a little lad in my class who was being bullied suddenly snapped during a woodwork session and went for his taunter with a wood chisel. It took four lads to hold him down and another to prise the wood chisel from his hand. the lad who was taunting him was about six foot at the time and spent two hours having stitches at the hospital to his injuries. Had we not got to the attacker in time the taunter would likely have spent a few week in intensive care at best.

[Milky]

On 3/1/2019 at 6:55 AM, Evil Sid said:

Not necessarily obs, she may have just snapped after such a prolonged period of abuse, sorry alleged period that should read.

There is a limit to how much a person can tolerate, once exceeded something in the brain goes click and says enough.

How this manifests itself depends on what is being tolerated. In the case of alcohol it usually shuts the brain down leading to eventual unconsciousness.

In the case of abuse it can lead to a sudden outburst of violent anger at the person doing the abusing.

I remember an incident at school when a little lad in my class who was being bullied suddenly snapped during a woodwork session and went for his taunter with a wood chisel. It took four lads to hold him down and another to prise the wood chisel from his hand. the lad who was taunting him was about six foot at the time and spent two hours having stitches at the hospital to his injuries. Had we not got to the attacker in time the taunter would likely have spent a few week in intensive care at best.

Very true,  but in this case the woman  had left him, then agreed to return, went back with a weapon (was it a hammer) and killed him. 

It is not the first case of its kind.