A troubled man who suffocated his wife with a pillow and later admitted he had tried to kill her has been spared an immediate jail term after a judge heard he was suffering from a severe depressive episode at the time.
Sharon Corrigan called 999, just after 8am on June 20, and requested an ambulance for her husband, Brian, who was unconscious on the floor. She told a call handler the recovering alcoholic had been drinking but shouldn’t have been as he was on medication.
Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court: “When she was asked to check his breathing she said that she didn’t want to go anywhere near him as he had tried to kill her earlier that morning.”
Mrs Corrigan spoke of being in bed when her husband, aged 53, had put a pillow over her head while shouting “you are going to die today”.
When she finally got him off her — due to knowing a weak spot on his body — he said his head was screwed. He had later got out a knife and said they were both going to die today.
Police found Corrigan drifting in and out of consciousness. He was incoherent and grunting in response to questions but was heard to say he tried to kill his wife.
She told police Corrigan, then of Plaskett’s Lane, Wigton, had been intoxicated and was aggressive and tried to put a pillow over her head and push it down hard. She believed he had sort of snapped, saying that he wasn’t her Brian while insisting she wasn’t scared of him.
Taken to hospital due to his intoxicated state, Corrigan had said: “I tried to kill her. I used a pillow.”
Corrigan was initially charged with attempted murder but was sentenced in court today, having instead entered acceptable guilty pleas to suffocation and threatening with a knife.
Miss Whittlestone spoke of an unusual case. Corrigan’s wife had never provided a witness statement and would not co-operate with a prosecution which was brought amid significant comments in the aftermath.
“As she has maintained throughout, she very much loves her husband and is supportive of him,” said Miss Whittlestone.
Defence lawyer Mark Shepherd called the short-lived, serious incident a suicide attempt which had shocked Corrigan, his wife, their family and friends. Together for 23 years, Mrs Corrigan said she was seeking to help him and not herself when dialling 999.
She accepted he was remorseful and described him as her loving husband, soul mate and rock.
After considering background information, including a psychiatric report, Judge Nicholas Barker concluded: “It is undoubtedly the case there was a significant and complex set of circumstances surrounding this incident.”
Noting that Corrigan had been in custody for five months on remand, Judge Barker, exceptionally, suspended a 16-month sentence for two years. Corrigan must complete a mental health treatment programme, rehabilitation work and a 120-month alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement.
