Wife said 'I had no choice' after killing, jury told

Joanna Rowland-Stuart (pictured at an earlier hearing in Crawley) was ruled unfit to plead

A woman who allegedly killed her husband with a samurai sword "stabbing and slicing him" more than 50 times told police "I had no choice", a court heard.

Joanna Rowland-Stuart, 71, was arrested and originally charged with murdering her husband Andrew Rowland-Stuart, 70, after he was pronounced dead at their home in Lavender Street in Brighton on 27 May 2024.

At Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday, the jury heard the 999 call made to police, in which Ms Rowland-Stuart said: "My husband Andrew has tried to kill me with a samurai sword and in the scuffle I managed to turn the sword towards him and he's fallen onto the sword and he's dead."

Jurors had heard that Ms Rowland-Stuart, who identifies as a transgender woman, married Mr Rowland-Stuart, known as Andy, in a civil partnership in 2006.

The defendant, who was ruled unfit to plead, was seen in doorbell footage shown to the court wearing only pants, covered in blood and asking neighbours for help.

Jason Sharman, who lived on the same floor as the couple, is seen answering the door to Ms Rowland-Stuart who says "help please", then - when Mr Sharman asks if he should call the police - says "he's dead, Andy's dead".

In the 999 call played to the court, Mr Sharman says: "My neighbour's knocked on the door saying her husband's dead. All over her body there's blood."

Police body worn camera footage from inside the couple's flat showed officers giving Mr Rowland-Stuart CPR in the lounge while a handcuffed Ms Rowland-Stuart sobbed and said: "I had no choice. We've been together 18 years. I never thought Andrew would do this to me."

Mr Rowland-Stuart was pronounced dead at the scene in Brighton

She added: "Why did you do this to me Andy?"

The jury was told text messages between the two in the months leading to the incident were mostly about the mundanities of life, while being mostly kind and affectionate.

The last one - on the day Mr Rowland-Stuart died - was about whether they needed more milk.

In a police search of Ms Rowland-Stuart's emails there was one to a firm specialising in replica weapons from Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, the jury heard.

It asked if a shogun tachi - a type of Japanese samurai sword - with a stainless steel blade which was no longer legal could be swapped for an alloy blade.

Recovered internet searches from Ms Rowland-Stuart's phone in the weeks before the death also showed 14 results for swords including replica swords, curved swords, samurai curved swords, Japanese swords and Japanese sword names, the court was told.

Ms Rowland-Stuart was ruled unfit to plead by Judge Christine Laing KC on Monday, so did not take part in the trial.

The jury was told that because of this they were deciding whether or not Ms Rowland-Stuart unlawfully killed her husband.

The trial continues.