A Leeds husband who was found guilty of murdering wife Eileen Barrott with a hammer has been sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 21 years.
Mark Barrott, 55, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court today, Monday, August 8. The sentencing was delayed after Barrott was transported to A&E from the psychiatric hospital he was staying in due to a potential overdose.
Eileen, 50, was found dead by her son Joel, 21, at her home on Sunday, August 15, 2021. A post-mortem examination later concluded she'd been strangled and attacked with a hammer. After a two week trial at Leeds Crown Court last month, Barrott was found guilty of murdering her.
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The sentencing hearing eventually proceeded without Barrott in attendance.
Addressing Barrott in his sentencing remarks, the judge said he was satisfied Eileen had decided to leave Barrott by August 14 or 15. He added: "This time you knew there were no more final chances, you had exhausted them all."
He continued: "Your control and manipulation had come to an end and you killed her in a final act of control. You delivered two blows to her head, in all likelihood with a hammer. There was a struggle on the landing and you caused rib fractures with the force that you handled her."
He went on to recount Barrott's strangulation of Eileen and how he then proceeded to go into and out of the house for some time before heading to Leeds train station to run to Scotland. He was later arrested on August 19 by police in the Elgin area.
The judge also addressed Barrott's controlling behaviour, saying: "I'm satisfied that at least by the 15th of August you had formed the intention to kill.
"You had a history of controlling behaviour. Some of that may have been attributable to your mental health conditions but some of it was not. You were regularly following Eileen when she went on nights with her friends and colleagues."
The judge also recounted how Barrott used to track his wife and show up to the hospital where she worked demanding to know where she was if she in the middle of something when he arrived.
West Yorkshire Police Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Vanessa Rolfe said: “Mark Barrott has been shown to be someone who was responsible for an appalling catalogue of coercive and controlling behaviour against his wife Eileen over a number of years.
“When he realised that she was trying to finally break free from this toxic relationship, he acted with murderous intent. His cruel and selfish actions have robbed Eileen’s family and friends of her and left a huge hole in their lives.
“He fled four hundred miles from the couple’s home in the immediate aftermath of the murder in much the same way as he has sought to escape being held fully responsible for his actions during the court process.
“We hope that his conviction for murder and the life sentence he has received will provide at least some small measure of comfort to Eileen’s family and to all those who loved her.
“Controlling or coercive behaviour in a relationship became a specific offence in 2015 and continues to be a priority for West Yorkshire Police and its partner agencies in our work to tackle domestic abuse and deliver against our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to improve investigations and reduce offences that disproportionately affect women and girls.
“We always encourage victims or those who know about their situation to report it, either directly to our specialist Safeguarding officers or to any of our partner agencies, including the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.”
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