ianstone
08-03-2010, 02:20 PM
News
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/03-jonathan-wicks-415.jpg Struck out: Jonathan Wicks hit his wife during a row in which she allegedly threw plates at him
Husband gets 18 months in jail for killing wife who burned the beef
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/std/siteimages/eveningstandard/columnists/paul.cheston.gif Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/columnistarchive/Paul%20Cheston,%20Courts%20Correspondent-columnist-1336-archive.do)
03.08.10 A man was jailed for 18 months today for killing his wife with a single blow after she burned the beef at a lunch party.
Jonathan Wicks, 48, a TV location manager who had worked on several hit shows including the BBC (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-319-british-broadcasting-corporation.do)'s Holby City (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-11082-holby-city.do), struck out following a series of trivial rows with his wife Sarah.
Mrs Wicks, 49, died last May after suffering a ruptured artery in her neck at the couple's home in Stourton, Warwickshire (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-6989-warwickshire.do).
He claimed he had been acting in self-defence when she threw plates at him, but he was convicted of manslaughter.
Sentencing today at Birmingham (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-395-birmingham.do) crown court, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told him: “You are a man who has led a respectable and successful life. That success encompassed what I believe to be a loving and harmonious domestic life that was brought to a tragic end during a tiff between you and your much-loved wife, which resulted in a blow from you, which in many other instances would have caused bruising, but in this instance caused her death.”
The judge added: “It is an important feature of this case that the argument arose very quickly and in your own home.
“This is not a case of the sort of yobbish violence in public which is so often a feature of one-blow manslaughter cases.”
Earlier David Howker QC, defending, said Wicks had struck one blow of moderate force during a trivial argument at the end of what was an otherwise pleasant lunch.
They had argued over several issues before the fatal blow, including an “overcooked” joint of beef which had been prepared for guests.
Mr Howker added: “From time to time, we come across cases that might properly be described as tragic and this is one of them.
“It's plain from the evidence that the court heard in the trial, that the defendant and his wife were a devoted, loving couple.
“There is not a shred of evidence or even a hint to suggest... any kind of violence in the history of the marriage.”
Wicks was not accused of having intended to kill his wife, but a jury of eight women and four men accepted the Crown's claim that he had acted unlawfully in punching or slapping
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/03-jonathan-wicks-415.jpg Struck out: Jonathan Wicks hit his wife during a row in which she allegedly threw plates at him
Husband gets 18 months in jail for killing wife who burned the beef
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/std/siteimages/eveningstandard/columnists/paul.cheston.gif Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/columnistarchive/Paul%20Cheston,%20Courts%20Correspondent-columnist-1336-archive.do)
03.08.10 A man was jailed for 18 months today for killing his wife with a single blow after she burned the beef at a lunch party.
Jonathan Wicks, 48, a TV location manager who had worked on several hit shows including the BBC (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-319-british-broadcasting-corporation.do)'s Holby City (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-11082-holby-city.do), struck out following a series of trivial rows with his wife Sarah.
Mrs Wicks, 49, died last May after suffering a ruptured artery in her neck at the couple's home in Stourton, Warwickshire (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-6989-warwickshire.do).
He claimed he had been acting in self-defence when she threw plates at him, but he was convicted of manslaughter.
Sentencing today at Birmingham (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-395-birmingham.do) crown court, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told him: “You are a man who has led a respectable and successful life. That success encompassed what I believe to be a loving and harmonious domestic life that was brought to a tragic end during a tiff between you and your much-loved wife, which resulted in a blow from you, which in many other instances would have caused bruising, but in this instance caused her death.”
The judge added: “It is an important feature of this case that the argument arose very quickly and in your own home.
“This is not a case of the sort of yobbish violence in public which is so often a feature of one-blow manslaughter cases.”
Earlier David Howker QC, defending, said Wicks had struck one blow of moderate force during a trivial argument at the end of what was an otherwise pleasant lunch.
They had argued over several issues before the fatal blow, including an “overcooked” joint of beef which had been prepared for guests.
Mr Howker added: “From time to time, we come across cases that might properly be described as tragic and this is one of them.
“It's plain from the evidence that the court heard in the trial, that the defendant and his wife were a devoted, loving couple.
“There is not a shred of evidence or even a hint to suggest... any kind of violence in the history of the marriage.”
Wicks was not accused of having intended to kill his wife, but a jury of eight women and four men accepted the Crown's claim that he had acted unlawfully in punching or slapping