A woman who fatally stabbed her boyfriend has been found guilty of murder.
Joanne Moran, of Bridge Road in Litherland, Merseyside was unanimously convicted of murdering Jonathan Gibbons at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday (April 12). While being interviewed by police after the incident, Moran claimed she had previously scratched Gibbons during arguments, adding that she was 'just a cow.'
Wearing a black jumper and with her blonde hair tied back in a bun, the 43-year-old showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered after two hours and 53 minutes by a jury of eight men and four women. Members of Mr Gibbons' family were heard saying "yes" as she was found guilty. A woman supporting Moran from the public gallery began sobbing after the killer was taken down to the cells, while a man consoling her was heard to say "t***" under his breath, reports the ECHO.
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The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC thanked jurors for their service in what he described as a "tragic case, whichever way you look at it". He will pass sentence later on Wednesday.
A previous trial heard that on October 30, 2022, at about 4.45am, emergency services received a phone call from Moran reporting that a man had been stabbed and the caller was requesting assistance to attend their home on Bridge Road. Mr Gibbons and the defendant had been in a relationship since 2016 and had lived at the address for around four years, where they had been playing cards and drinking since 3pm the day before.
Moran called the police after she stabbed Mr Gibbons using a small black handled knife following a drunken argument between the pair. She told officers “I just stabbed my partner” and repeatedly said “I’m sorry” immediately after the incident.
Under interview, she said that on previous occasions she had “scratched” her victim during or after arguments and he would restrain her to stop her. When police asked if Mr Gibbons had ever assaulted her or hit her, she said no and said he was “placid" - then referred to herself as “just a cow”.
Moran also said she had “not painted herself in a very good light” and claimed her boyfriend had assaulted her and given her a black eye on two occasions. She added: “I don’t always put my hands on him. If we argue, we argue, but it doesn’t always end up in me assaulting him. I’m not that bad."
Moran admitted she had stabbed Mr Gibbons and caused his death, but during her trial claimed that although it had been a deliberate physical act, it was to move “into his space not into his body”. She said: “I moved the knife like that, I didn’t go to stab John.”
The murderer repeatedly asserted throughout the trial that she did not remember picking up the knife or deciding to stab Mr Gibbons, and claimed she never intended to stab him.
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