Hammer murder wife Sally Challen's sentence reduced

The body of Richard Challen was found at his house in Claygate

A woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband by bludgeoning him to death with a hammer has had her jail term reduced at the Court of Appeal.

Georgina Challen, 57, known as Sally, from Claygate, Surrey, admitted killing Richard Challen, 61, but denied murder claiming diminished responsibility.

She was jailed for life in June and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years.

On Thursday, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with two other judges, reduced the minimum term by four years to 18.

During her trial, jurors were told that Challen attacked the retired businessman in August 2010 as he ate lunch at the kitchen table in their former marital home.

She had believed he was cheating and later said: "If I can't have him, no-one can."

A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was severe blunt force trauma to the head.

After attacking him, she drove 70 miles to Beachy Head in East Sussex, where she admitted to chaplains trying to coax her away from the cliff edge that she had killed her husband of 31 years.