An elderly man stabbed his blind and ailing wife while she tried to sleep then told 999 call handlers, "I just burst". Retired butcher Edward Turpin, 90, was accused of trying to kill his wife Joan.
He reportedly lost patience with Joan, also 90, while caring for her at their home in Ringshall Road, Orpington, Kent, on September 22 last year. Turpin had accepted he got a carving knife from the kitchen and injured his wife in bed, but said it was to “quieten her down” after she started screaming at night.
Jurors had heard that Mrs Turpin, who has lost her eyesight, suffers diabetes and needs a catheter, had become increasingly dependent on her husband’s help. Turpin became unwell after giving evidence in his Old Bailey trial and was not present in court when a jury returned verdicts on Tuesday after deliberating for 10 hours and 23 minutes.
