Neston sugar water murder: Wife killed husband with boiling mix

Corinna Smith killed her husband in a "brutal and painful way", the CPS said

A woman who poured a mix of boiling water and sugar over her husband in an act of vengeance after a family row has been found guilty of his murder.

Corinna Smith, 59, attacked 81-year-old Michael Baines while he was in bed at their home in Highfield Road in Neston, Cheshire, on 14 July 2020.

He suffered extensive burns and died five weeks later in hospital.

Smith denied murdering her husband of 38 years but she was found guilty by a jury at Chester Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Smith, who was also her husband's carer, had been involved in a dispute with him and another family member prior to the killing.

Shortly after midnight, she took a bucket from her garden, boiled up water in a kettle and mixed it with sugar, the CPS said.

Smith, who was previously known as Corinna Baines, then poured the liquid over him while he was sleeping before running to a neighbour's house in tears and telling them: "I've hurt him, I've hurt him really bad... I think I've killed him."

'Deliberate and considered'

Police found her husband in the house, moaning and in extreme pain.

He had sustained significant burns to more than a third of his body and died in hospital on 18 August.

The CPS said Smith changed her story initially but then admitted what she had done, but claimed it happened when she lost control.

She was found guilty of his murder on Tuesday following a trial.

Speaking after the hearing, CPS Mersey Cheshire's Jayne Morris said Smith killed her husband in a "brutal and painful way".

"She confessed to manslaughter... but the CPS refused to accept that," she said.

"Her actions were deliberate and considered.

"She was clearly upset about the dispute... but the evidence demonstrated that she was in control and acted in anger when she poured the lethal mixture over her husband and wanted to extract vengeance."

She will be sentenced on 9 July.