{"id":243624,"date":"2023-12-12T16:22:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=243624"},"modified":"2023-12-12T16:22:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:22:16","slug":"ex-police-officer-who-strangled-his-ill-wife-to-death-is-spared-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/world-news\/ex-police-officer-who-strangled-his-ill-wife-to-death-is-spared-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-police officer who strangled his ill wife to death is spared jail"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> &#8216;Deeply desperate&#8217; churchgoing ex-police officer, 83, who strangled his seriously ill wife to death just before their Diamond wedding anniversary after becoming frustrated at NHS delays in her treatment is spared jail<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Grenville Richings, 83, strangled elderly spouse Elizabeth to death\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A &#8216;deeply desperate&#8217; husband who killed his seriously ill wife after becoming frustrated at NHS delays in her treatment has today been spared jail.<\/p>\n<p>Retired police officer Grenville Richings, 83, strangled elderly spouse Elizabeth to death after she was left &#8216;crushed with pain&#8217; following a serious fall and delayed health service appointments.<\/p>\n<p>Just as the couple were approaching their Diamond wedding anniversary, devoted Mr Richings killed the retired nurse before kissing her and lying her on the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest.<\/p>\n<p>The churchgoer then made a suicide attempt and wrote in his journal &#8211; which he would use to write about his wife&#8217;s declining health &#8211; &#8216;Peace, may God forgive me&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>After pleading guilty to manslaughter, a crown court judge today gave him a suspended prison sentence, ruling the killing an &#8216;act of mercy&#8217; as he concluded Richings&#8217; &#8216;mental torment&#8217; must have been &#8216;intolerable&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Salisbury Crown Court, Wiltshire, heard Mrs Richings was found dead by paramedics on June 3 this year at the \u00a3500,000 riverside home she shared with her husband in Bournemouth, Dorset.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/15\/78871043-12855091-image-m-41_1702394876170.jpg\" height=\"995\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Retired police officer Grenville Richings outside Salisbury Law Courts<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/15\/78872385-12855091-image-a-57_1702395354156.jpg\" height=\"405\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Police investigating at the couple&#8217;s home in Wick, Dorset, in June 2023<\/p>\n<p>The court was told how Mr and Mrs Richings &#8211; who was originally from Ayr, south west Scotland &#8211; had met in their early 20s and had been happily married for 59 years.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecuting, Anna Vigars KC, told the court: &#8216;Their marriage had been not only long but according to their daughter &#8211; stable and content.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It was heard over the last few years that both husband and wife &#8211; who shared three children and four grandchildren &#8211; suffered a decline in their health.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Vigars said: &#8216;Since he had been in his 60s, Mr Richings suffered from heart problems and he had significant care and support from his wife.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The husband and wife had been caring for one another but things worsened on May 11, 2023, when Mrs Richings suffered a bad fall &#8211; something that had become increasingly &#8216;frequent&#8217; in recent years &#8211; and suffered a fractured vertebra in her back.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Vigars said the pensioner must have felt like the &#8216;rug was pulled out from under him&#8217; and neighbours noticed how much they were both struggling.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Richings&#8217; personal notebook included a number of extracts in regard to his wife&#8217;s condition from the fall onwards.<\/p>\n<p>He was growing frustrated and helpless, and wrote &#8216;So much time wasted consulting NHS people instead of action&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Vigars added: &#8216;His stress levels because of the time that medical referrals were taking was 10 out of 10.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/15\/78871053-12855091-image-a-43_1702394897586.jpg\" height=\"479\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Richings killed the retired nurse before kissing her and lying her on the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest<\/p>\n<p>On June 3, Mr Richings &#8211; reluctant to leave his wife &#8211; went food shopping with his daughter Katherine Draycott, but reportedly &#8216;wanted to return home as soon as they could&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Draycott went home and it was reported later that day, the pensioner wrote in his journal that his wife &#8211; who was referred to as Betty by friends and family &#8211; was &#8216;shivering and shaking&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>In the evening, Mrs Draycott rang the house and spoke to her father on the phone.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Vigars added: &#8216;His speech sounded slurred and he said to her that he had strangled his wife and called an ambulance.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Vigars said police attended their Bournemouth home, adding: &#8216;They found Mrs Richings&#8217; body lying on the sofa. She was covered in blankets with her arms covering her chest. Mr Richings was in his bed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>At 15:15, Mr Richings had written in his diary &#8216;Peace, may god forgive me&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Mitigating, Patrick Gibbs KC, said there had been an &#8216;exponential deterioration&#8217; in both husband and wife&#8217;s health which led to the events.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/15\/78871047-12855091-image-m-45_1702394919275.jpg\" height=\"953\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Richings had pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, last month<\/p>\n<p>Mr Gibbs said Mrs Richings was suffering &#8216;continuous pain, hopelessness and despair&#8217; and the retired police officer was &#8216;putting on a brave face&#8217; until the end.<\/p>\n<p>He told the court: &#8216;[Mr Richings] had a genuine belief that this was an act of mercy. There is no dangerousness here.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He believed that he would soon see her again, free of pain.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Discussing motivations, Mr Gibbs added: &#8216;The answer must be that he had loved her for so long that his mind couldn&#8217;t bear any longer to see crushed by the pain and despair that she was in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He could no longer give her life or happiness. He gave her the last good thing left to both of them which was peace.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Mr Gibbs said there were no aggravating features to this case and Mr Richings was not just a man of good character, but &#8216;exemplary character&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8216;The event of the third of June is only a part of their story. Their story is long and happy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/15\/78871057-12855091-image-a-46_1702394938538.jpg\" height=\"910\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Richings&#8217; personal notebook included a number of extracts in regard to his wife&#8217;s condition from the fall onwards<\/p>\n<p>Sentencing the pensioner, His Honour Judge Timothy Mousley KC said: &#8216;Betty was 83 years old and so were you, you had been together since your early 20s and you were approaching your diamond wedding anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You have had three children and with them grandchildren and are obviously a very close family.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;As you and Betty got older, inevitably health problems became more numerous, more serious and harder to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;On the 11th of May she fell over in the house.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It caused her great pain and there was a delay in her receiving the treatment and care that she needed. She had in fact suffered a fractured vertebra.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Judge Mousley said the fall caused a &#8216;serious decline in her health&#8217; and &#8216;added enormously to the burden&#8217; carried by the retired police officer.<\/p>\n<p>He said Mr Richings was not himself at the time, and was suffering an &#8216;abnormality of mental function&#8217; due to his worsening mental health.<\/p>\n<p>The judge added: &#8216;I conclude that the mental torment must have been intolerable. A psychiatrist described you as deeply desperate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You told a psychiatrist that after you strangled Betty, you kissed her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;She was found lying across the sofa peacefully, with her arms crossed across her chest.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I am satisfied you believed killing was an act of mercy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Mr Richings had pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, last month.<\/p>\n<p>Today, he was handed an 18 month sentence, suspended for two years.<\/p>\n<p><span>For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12855091\/Deeply-desperate-churchgoing-ex-police-officer-83-strangled-seriously-ill-wife-death-just-Diamond-wedding-anniversary-frustrated-NHS-delays-treatment-spared-jail.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Deeply desperate&#8217; churchgoing ex-police officer, 83, who strangled his seriously ill wife to death just before their Diamond wedding anniversary after becoming frustrated at NHS delays in her treatment is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ex-police officer who strangled his ill wife to death is spared jail - lovemainstream.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/world-news\/ex-police-officer-who-strangled-his-ill-wife-to-death-is-spared-jail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-police officer who strangled his ill wife to death is spared jail - lovemainstream.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8216;Deeply desperate&#8217; 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