Janet Dunn jailed for killing husband at Ponteland home

Janet Dunn admitted killing Anthony Dunn, her husband of 53 years

A woman who smothered her "domineering" and "verbally abusive" husband with a pillow after a row over money has been jailed for five years and three months.

Janet Dunn, 73, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 81-year-old Anthony Dunn at their house in March.

The pair, of Beech Court, Ponteland, had been married for 53 years.

At Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Paul Sloan QC said Dunn had been a "victim of coercive and controlling behaviour" from her husband and she had snapped.

He said the family had also experienced "one financial crisis after another" with bills left unpaid, threats of the family home being repossessed and bankruptcy due to "reckless" financial conduct by Mr Dunn, which led to the couple borrowing money from their daughters.

The family home in Ponteland had been threatened with repossession

The court heard one of the couple's daughters had died in September 2021 and by March this year Mr Dunn's health had deteriorated after a heart attack and he had limited mobility and worsening dementia.

The court was told that on the morning of 15 March, Janet Dunn went into a bedroom where her husband was lying in bed.

She told him that the couple's worsening financial situation meant they would have to borrow money from one of their daughters and Mr Dunn "smiled" and told his wife she should "go ahead".

Judge Sloan said: "You interpreted that smile as demonstrating a completely uncaring and unfeeling attitude.

"After decades of compliance and submission, it was the smile that finally caused you to snap. The anger and frustration you had repressed for years boiled over."

Dunn smothered her husband by putting a pillow over his face. She then fled the house and attempted to take her own life at Bolam Lake in Northumberland.

'Devastated and traumatised'

Psychiatrists agreed that, at the time, Dunn was in a depressive episode and anxious, causing her judgment to be substantially impaired.

Sentencing her, Judge Sloan said that she had "an abnormality of mental functioning" and the killing of her husband was a "spontaneous act" after a "prolonged period of domestic abuse".

And although not violent in their relationship, he had been verbally abusive and said she would be left "treading on eggshells", particularly earlier in their marriage, the court heard.

Mrs Dunn had previously been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility before her trial.

The court heard the couple's daughters had been left "devastated and traumatised" wondering whether "their lives were built on a complete fiction".

John Elvidge QC, mitigating, said it was "an extraordinary case" and "the facts and the background that have been uncovered are extremely sad and distressing".

He added: "In spite of it all, Mrs Dunn did love her husband. She is desperately sorry for taking his life and for what she has done to their daughters."

Det Ch Insp Matt Steel, from Northumbria Police, previously described the case as "incredibly awful" and said he hoped the family could "look to move forward with their grief".

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