It was ‘an act of love, of compassion, to end her suffering'.
Those were the heartbreaking words of Mr Justice Goose as he handed Graham Mansfield a suspended sentence for killing his wife during a failed suicide pact.
The 73-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter after a jury heard he slit his wife's throat then failed to kill himself. After saying he was 'entirely satisfied' that Mansfield had acted out of love for his wife, Mr Justice Goose today imposed a two year prison sentence, suspended for two years on the retired Manchester Airport baggage handler.
His wife Dyanne Mansfield, 71, had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was becoming 'weaker and weaker, Manchester Crown Court heard. Police found Mr Mansfield lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen of their home in Canterbury Road, Hale.
"The last thing you would have wanted was not joining your wife in death," Justice Goose told Mansfield. "The circumstances of this case have been a tragedy for you and exceptional in the experience of this court."
Read more: Teenager from Irlam killed in road accident in Cheshire
At the trial, Mr Mansfield denied murder and manslaughter. The judge had previously told jurors that for Mr Mansfield to be convicted of murder, they had to be sure that he used unlawful violence which caused the death of his wife, and that he intended to kill her.
But the case could be reduced to manslaughter if they believed it was "more likely than not" that Mrs Mansfield voluntarily agreed to the suicide pact and that her husband had made a genuine attempt to take his own life. The judge, who told jurors they must apply the law despite 'however sympathetic you may feel', said previously: "It remains unlawful and may reduce this offence from murder to manslaughter."
Jurors took 90 minutes to return the unanimous verdict. This followed a four day trial.
Jurors previously heard that the Hale couple took a trip to Buxton on March 22 to find a 'quiet' and 'convenient' place to carry out the pact, but instead decided to use the garden as the 'venue'. Mr Mansfield said he'd killed his wife at about 9pm on Tuesday, March 23, after he'd drunk two whiskies for 'Dutch courage' and his wife had some red wine.
In a 999 call made at 9.14am on Wednesday, March 24 last year, while lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen, Mr Mansfield told the operator: "My wife has got terminal cancer, and we had made a pact to kill ourselves. I think I have killed my wife, and I have tried to kill myself and it's all gone wrong."
Speaking after leaving Manchester Crown Court Mansfield said: "I'd just like to say, the law needs to change. Nobody should have to go what we went through.
"She shouldn't have had to have died in such barbaric circumstances. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as we can get some form of euthanasia in this country, the sooner that happens the better this country will be."
Read more of today's top stories
READ NEXT:
Leave a message of support for Team England in The Commonwealth Games
Male stabbed and woman hurt at street party - a boy, 14, was arrested
Person whose mate was sick at bar sends £20 tip to member of staff who had to clean it up
Sainsbury's drivers forced to drive without air conditioning during heatwave due to 'insane' reason
