Man who strangled wife during nightmare walks free

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 12:28

A MAN who strangled his wife during a nightmare in the belief he was attacking an intruder walked free from court today after the case against him was withdrawn.

Brian Thomas, 59, of Neath, South Wales, killed his wife Christine, 57, while they were holidaying in West Wales in July 2008.

At Swansea Crown Court today the prosecution told the jury that it was no longer seeking a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and that there would be no purpose in sending Thomas to a psychiatric hospital.

The court erupted into shouts of "yes" as family members jubilantly greeted the outcome today.

Their reaction came after Paul Thomas QC, the prosecutor, explained the situation to the jury after yesterday's day-long adjournment in proceedings.

"We are no longer seeking a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity," Mr Thomas told the jury.

"We have a continuing duty to review the case and we took the opportunity yesterday to take stock of the situation.

"It is clear from the evidence that no useful purpose would be served by Mr Thomas being detained in a psychiatric hospital."

Iwan Jenkins, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Dyfed Powys, said: "This has been a unique case with a unique set of circumstances.

"We have a duty to keep cases under continuous review, and following expert evidence from a psychiatrist it was suggested no useful purpose would be served by Mr Thomas being detained and treated in a psychiatric hospital, which would be the consequence of a special verdict in this case.

"Once it was raised, the CPS had a duty to review the case and decided that, guided as we must be and have been throughout this case by the views of the experts, the public interest would no longer be served by continuing to seek a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

"The consequences of such a finding would have meant Mr Thomas' detention in a psychiatric hospital, but it is now clear that the psychiatrists feel that that would serve no useful purpose and the risk of reoccurrence is very, very small. We therefore have offered no further evidence and asked the jury to return a simple verdict of not guilty."

He added: "Our thoughts remain with the family of Brian and Christine Thomas who have remained dignified throughout this difficult time."