A woman jailed for stabbing her husband to death has lost a bid to bring a challenge against her conviction to the Court of Appeal.
Penelope Jackson killed David Jackson – her husband of 24 years – at their home in Berrow, Somerset, in February 2021.
She stabbed him to death following a row over serving bubble and squeak for her birthday meal.
Jackson, a retired accountant, denied murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, saying she had lost control following years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband.
The killer, who had been married three times before meeting Mr Jackson, claimed her 78-year-old husband had coercively controlled her, including preventing her from seeing friends and even deciding what she watched on TV.
But Bristol Crown Court heard she repeatedly refused to help Mr Jackson when the emergency call handler asked her to take steps such as apply pressure to the wound or throw him a towel to try to stem the bleeding.
She was convicted of murder and handed a sentence of life in prison, with a minimum term of 18 years, in October 2021.
Trial judge made errors, killer’s lawyers claimed
Lawyers for Jackson sought to challenge her murder conviction at the Court of Appeal in London.
They argued that the trial judge failed to properly direct the jury about “the individual and cumulative nature of matters which went to the gravity of the trigger for the purpose of the partial defence of loss of control”.
Jackson’s lawyers also argued that the trial judge was wrong to release footage of her 999 call and arrest to the media during the trial as witnesses who were yet to give evidence may have seen it.
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In the video, Jackson can be heard telling the call handler that her husband, a retired lieutenant colonel, was “bleeding to death with any luck” on their kitchen floor.
Jackson previously told jurors her husband became violent during arguments in their marriage, and said: “I didn’t know if I was waking up to nice David or nasty David.”
However, Jane Calverley, Mr Jackson’s daughter from his first marriage, from whom he was estranged, accused the defendant of being the abuser in the relationship.
Why appeal bid was rejected
In a ruling on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Cutts, sitting with Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Mr Justice Butcher, dismissed Jackson’s bid to bring an appeal.
Mrs Justice Cutts said: “We find ourselves unable to accept that this applicant’s conviction is arguably unsafe.
“We accept the submission that a loss of control does not need to be sudden for the defence to succeed and that it can be triggered by the cumulative impact of a pattern of events, specifically in a relationship which has been characterised by coercion and control.
“That was plainly understood by the judge, who directed the jury accordingly.”
The judges said the trial judge had properly summarised evidence about Jackson’s relationship, including her evidence about losing control.
“It was ultimately a matter for the jury as to whether they accepted that evidence and, if so, having been properly directed, whether this amounted to a defence of loss of control,” Mrs Justice Cutts said.
