A man who had previously been charged with attempting to murder his wife in Wigton has instead admitted suffocating her with a pillow over the face.
Brian Corrigan, now 53, was initially brought before a magistrates’ court in the immediate aftermath of incidents which were said to have happened inside the couple’s home on June 20 this year.
Corrigan, then of Plaskett’s Lane, Wigton, was charged both with attempting to murder his wife and also threatening her with a knife.
His case was sent to Carlisle Crown Court where a trial in front of a jury was provisionally fixed.
Today, at a pre-trial review hearing in front of Judge Nicholas Barker, Corrigan formally pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that he attempted to murder the woman.
However, the case resolved after two alternative charges were put to Corrigan. He admitted suffocation by putting a pillow over his wife’s face — a criminal act which court papers say affected her ability to breathe and constituted a battery of her.
He further admitted a charge of threatening the woman with an offensive weapon — a knife — in a private place.
A psychiatric report had been produced ahead today’s hearing, which Corrigan attended remotely over a video link.
Judge Barker adjourned the case and directed that a probation service report should be produced, following an interview with the defendant, to assist with the sentencing exercise.
Corrigan, now said to be of no fixed address, is due to be sentenced for the two offences by a judge at the crown court on October 27.
In the meantime he remains remanded in custody.
