Hale man called 999 after killing wife in 'failed suicide pact'

Dyanne Mansfield was found fatally injured at the bottom of her garden in Hale

A man who killed his wife in what he claimed was a failed suicide pact said he only dialled 999 so his sister would not make the grim discovery, a jury has heard.

Graham Mansfield, 73, was found lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen of their home in Hale, Greater Manchester on the morning of 24 March 2021.

The body of his cancer-stricken wife, Dyanne, 71, was found in the garden.

Mr Mansfield has denied murder and manslaughter at Manchester Crown Court.

The court heard Mr Mansfield had told the call operator he had slit the throat of his wife of more than 40 years at about 21:00 BST the previous night at their home on Canterbury Road, and then cut his own.

He said: "My wife has had terminal cancer and we made a pact to kill ourselves.

"I think I have killed my wife and I am trying to kill myself and it's all gone wrong."

Police were called the couple's home by the husband

PC Claire Jones told jurors she thought Mr Mansfield was dead when she first entered the kitchen, but then saw his hand twitch.

She said: "He was upset and he kept on saying 'Please just leave me to die'."

The officer saw that he appeared to be losing a lot of blood from a laceration to his neck and later also noticed cuts to both wrists.

Mr Mansfield told her he had fallen asleep after injuring himself but later woke up.

She confirmed to prosecutor David Temkin QC that the defendant repeatedly said he did not want to live any more.

The jury was told that a crying Mr Mansfield told another officer: "I had to do it for my wife. I want to be dead."

He also told a paramedic: "Let me die. I can't even do this right."

A murder investigation was launched following the discovery of Dyanne Mansfield's body

After being arrested on suspicion of murder, Mr Mansfield, who had also swallowed tablets, was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where he told police: "I thought at about 9pm I had better phone because if my sister comes round it will be awful to see this.

"We couldn't get out. We were in a big black hole. She started with a cough a year ago. It has been horrible. Chemo made her worse.

"It was not an over the night thing. We decided on the very day she was told she was going to die."

The day after his arrest, Mr Mansfield told a psychiatrist he was adamant he would not try to kill himself again and that "Dyanne wouldn't want me to do that".

He felt sad that his wife was no longer alive but also said he was relieved she had got her wish after she was diagnosed with lung cancer six months previously.

The retired baggage handler at Manchester Airport said medics told him and his wife, who had a cancerous kidney removed in 2004, that she had two years at most to live.

He said: "When we got home that night we were in bed and Dyanne said to me, 'when it gets too bad, don't leave me to go into hospital'.

"She said: 'I can't stand it. Please do something about it, kill me'.

"I said I can't live without you and we made a pact that I would do the killing. It was bizarre how we were talking."

'Most difficult thing'

He said his wife's last few months were "torturous" as her weight was "dropping off" and she had difficulty in swallowing food.

On the night of the killing he said he told his wife: "It's going to be the most difficult thing I could ever think of. I love you so much."

He passed out and woke up several times in the garden after repeated attempts to take his own life, he said, before he summoned up the strength to reach the house and search for tablets.

Mr Temkin said that for Mr Mansfield to be cleared of murder the jury would have to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that a genuine suicide pact existed.

Mr Mansfield has also pleaded not guilty to an alternative count of manslaughter because he maintains "his actions were lovingly undertaken through duress of circumstances or necessity for the purpose of avoiding any further severe pain and suffering".

The trial continues.

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